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Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial ProcedureRelease 119-73

§1395 Fine, penalty or forfeiture

Title 28 › Part PART IV— - JURISDICTION AND VENUE › Chapter CHAPTER 87— - DISTRICT COURTS; VENUE › § 1395

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

You can start a civil case to get back a money fine, penalty, or forfeited property in the district where the claim came up or where the defendant is found. A case to seize property can be filed in any district where the property is located. If the property was seized outside any district, the case can be filed in the district where the property is brought. If a ship is held, a maritime case to enforce fines or forfeitures can be brought where the ship is held. If a vessel or cargo enters a port the President has closed under law, or comes from a State the President has declared in insurrection, or if a vessel or vehicle carries people or goods to or from that State or is partly owned by a resident there, the forfeiture case can be brought in any district where the property is taken and where the case is filed.

Full Legal Text

Title 28, §1395

Judiciary and Judicial Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)A civil proceeding for the recovery of a pecuniary fine, penalty or forfeiture may be prosecuted in the district where it accrues or the defendant is found.
(b)A civil proceeding for the forfeiture of property may be prosecuted in any district where such property is found.
(c)A civil proceeding for the forfeiture of property seized outside any judicial district may be prosecuted in any district into which the property is brought.
(d)A proceeding in admiralty for the enforcement of fines, penalties and forfeitures against a vessel may be brought in any district in which the vessel is arrested.
(e)Any proceeding for the forfeiture of a vessel or cargo entering a port of entry closed by the President in pursuance of law, or of goods and chattels coming from a State or section declared by proclamation of the President to be in insurrection, or of any vessel or vehicle conveying persons or property to or from such State or section or belonging in whole or in part to a resident thereof, may be prosecuted in any district into which the property is taken and in which the proceeding is instituted.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§ 104, 106, 107, and 108, and section 3745(c) of title 26, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Internal Revenue Code (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §§ 43, 45, 46, 47, 36 Stat. 1100; Feb. 10, 1939, ch. 2, § 3745(c), 53 Stat. 460). This section consolidates section 3745(c) of title 26, U.S.C., 1940 ed., with section 104, 106, 107, and 108 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating to venue in civil proceedings to recover and enforce civil fines, penalties, and forfeitures, pecuniary or otherwise. Subsection (a) is based on said section 104 of title 28 and said section 3745(c) of title 26. Subsections (b) and (c) consolidate such section 106 and 107 of title 28. Subsection (e) is based on such section 108 of title 28. Subsection (b) substituted words “may be prosecuted in any district where such property is found” for “shall be prosecuted in the district where the seizure is made,” to include not only property seized, but also all other property subject to forfeiture. Words “civil” and “fine” were inserted to make this section applicable to the many provisions of the United States Code for fines essentially civil. (See reviser’s note under section 1355 of this title.) Provisions of section 3745(c) of title 26, U.S.C., 1940 ed., that such suit may be brought “before any other court of competent jurisdiction” were omitted as misleading surplusage, since United States district courts, under section 1355 of this title, have exclusive jurisdiction. Subsection (d) was added for completeness and clarity. Changes were made in phraseology. Senate Revision AmendmentWhile section 3745(c) of Title 26, U.S.C., Internal Revenue Code, is one of the sources of this section, it was eliminated from the schedule of

Repeals

by Senate amendment. Therefore, such section 3745(c) remains in Title 26. See 80th Congress

Senate Report No. 1559

.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

28 U.S.C. § 1395

Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial Procedure

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73