Alaska R. Civ. P. 88

(a) Prejudgment Delivery of Personal Property to

Plaintiff; Availability. When the plaintiff has commenced a

civil action to recover possession of personal property, the

plaintiff may make application to the court to have the property

delivered to the plaintiff. The court may order the prejudgment

seizure of the property in accordance with the provisions of

this rule.

(b) Motion and Affidavit for Delivery. The plaintiff

shall file a motion with the court requesting the delivery of

personal property, together with an affidavit showing:

(1) A particular description of the property claimed, and

if the property claimed is a portion of divisible property of

uniform kind, quality and value, that such is the case, and the

amount thereof which the plaintiff claims; and

(2) That the plaintiff is the owner of the property or

lawfully entitled to its possession, and the facts and

circumstances relating thereto; and

(3) The value of the property claimed; and if more than

one article is claimed, the current value of each article; and

(4) That the property is in the possession of the

defendant, and the facts and circumstances relating to such

possession according to the plaintiff’s best knowledge or

belief; and

(5) That the prejudgment seizure is not sought and the

action is not prosecuted to hinder, delay or defraud any other

creditor of the defendant; and

(6) That the plaintiff has no information or belief that the

defendant has filed any proceeding under the National

Bankruptcy Act or has made a general assignment for the

benefit of creditors, or, if any such proceeding has been

terminated, that the claim of the plaintiff was not discharged in

such proceeding.

The plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney shall endorse in

writing upon the motion attached to the affidavit a request that

the property claimed be taken by a peace officer from the

defendant and be delivered to the plaintiff.

(c) Notice of Motion; Pre-Seizure Hearing. Except as

section (j) provides, the court may order prejudgment delivery

of personal property to the plaintiff only after:

(1) The defendant is served with notice of the motion and

a copy of the affidavit; and

(2) The defendant is given an opportunity for a judicial

hearing to determine the necessity of and justification for the

prejudgment seizure of the property. The hearing shall be held

not less than three (3), nor more than seven (7) business days

(exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the

service of the notice of motion upon the defendant.

(3) The hearing shall be held before the court on the day

specified and shall take precedence over all other matters not

of a similar nature pending on that day. If the defendant does

not appear at the hearing, in person or by counsel, the court,

without taking further evidence, shall immediately order the

prejudgment seizure of the property. The hearing shall be

conducted in conformity with Civil Rule 77, except where the

provisions of Rule 77 conflict with the specific requirements of

the instant rule, in which case, the requirements of the instant

rule shall control.

(d) Hearing; Burden of Proof. At the hearing the court

shall require the plaintiff to establish by a preponderance of the

evidence the probable validity of the plaintiff’s claim to the

property and the absence of any reasonable probability that a

successful defense can be asserted by the defendant.

(e) Issuance of Order; Seizure. If at the hearing the

court finds that the plaintiff has met the burden of proof as set

forth in paragraph (d) of this rule, the court shall issue an order

prescribing the written undertaking, with sufficient sureties, to

be provided by the plaintiff and directing a peace officer to

seize and take into custody the property described in the

affidavit upon the furnishing of the undertaking by the

plaintiff.

(f) New or Additional Undertaking. The court at any

time may require the giving of a new or additional undertaking

to protect the interest of the defendant, the peace officer, or

any party who intervenes, if good reason is shown that a new

or additional bond is necessary.

(g) Sureties on Undertaking. The qualifications of

sureties and their justification shall be as prescribed by these

rules.

(h) Return by Peace Officer. The peace officer shall file

a return with the court promptly and in any event within 20

days after the taking of the property from the defendant. Such

return shall contain an inventory of the property taken, a

statement of the claims, if any, by persons other than the

plaintiff, and the name of the person to whom the property has

been delivered. If the property is not taken, the peace officer

shall promptly make a return to the court stating the fact and

giving the reasons therefor.

(i) Defendant’s Security. No order for prejudgment

seizure of personal property may issue, or the peace officer

shall redeliver to the defendant any property seized pursuant to

the hearing, when the defendant provides a written undertaking

with sufficient sureties as ordered by the court. The court may

take into account a defendant’s indigency, and may, in its

discretion, permit the defendant to establish security by means

other than the posting of bonds or the provision of a written

undertaking. Such alternative means may include an

installment payment arrangement or any other mechanism

which the court deems just.

(j) Ex Parte Prejudgment Delivery of Personal

Property. The court may issue a prejudgment order for

delivery of personal property in an ex parte proceeding upon

the plaintiff’s motion, affidavit, and undertaking only in the

following extraordinary situations:

(1) Imminence of Defendant Concealing, Destroying or

Conveying the Property. The court may issue an ex parte order

for delivery if the plaintiff establishes the probable validity of

the plaintiff’s claim for possession of the property, and if the

plaintiff states in the affidavit specific facts sufficient to

support a judicial finding of one of the following

circumstances:

(i) The defendant is concealing, or about to conceal, the

property; or

(ii) The defendant is about to destroy the property; or

(iii) The defendant is causing, or about to cause, the

property to be removed beyond the limits of the state; or

(iv) The defendant is about to convey or encumber the

property; or

(v) The defendant is otherwise disposing, or about to

dispose, of the property in a manner so as to defraud the

defendant’s creditors, including the plaintiff.

(2) Defendant’s Waiver of Right to Pre-Seizure Hearing.

The court may issue an ex parte order for delivery if the

plaintiff establishes the probable validity of the plaintiff’s

claim for possession of the property, and if the plaintiff

accompanies the affidavit and motion with a document signed

by the defendant voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently

waiving the defendant’s constitutional right to a hearing before

prejudgment seizure of the property.

(3) The Government as Plaintiff. The court may issue an

ex parte order for delivery when the possessory action and

claim for delivery is brought by a government agency (state or

federal), provided the government-plaintiff demonstrates that

an ex parte seizure is necessary to protect an important

governmental or general public interest.

(k) Execution, Duration, and Vacation of Ex Parte

Orders. When the peace officer executes an ex parte delivery

order, the peace officer shall at the same time serve on the

defendant copies of the plaintiff’s affidavit, motion and

undertaking, and the order. No ex parte order shall be valid for

more than seven (7) business days (exclusive of Saturdays,

Sundays, and legal holidays), unless the defendant waives the

right to a pre-seizure hearing in accordance with subsection (j)

(2) of this rule, or unless the defendant consents in writing to

an additional extension of time for the duration of the ex parte

order. The defendant may at any time after service of the order

request an emergency hearing at which the defendant may

refute the special need for the seizure and the validity of the

plaintiff’s claim for possession of the property.

(l) Duration and Vacation of Prejudgment Seizure

Orders Issued Pursuant to Hearing. A prejudgment seizure

order issued pursuant to a hearing provided for in section (c) of

this rule shall unless sooner released or discharged, cease to be

of any force or effect and the property seized shall be released

from the operation of the order at the expiration of six (6)

months from the date of the issuance of the order, unless a

notice of readiness for trial is filed or a judgment is entered

against the defendant in the action in which the order was

issued, in which case the order shall continue in effect until

released or vacated after judgment as provided in these rules.

However, upon motion of the plaintiff, made not less than ten

(10) nor more than sixty (60) days before the expiration of

such period of six (6) months, and upon notice of not less than

five (5) days to the defendant, the court in which the action is

pending may, by order filed prior to the expiration of the

period, extend the duration of the order for an additional period

or periods as the court may direct, if the court is satisfied that

the failure to file the notice of readiness is due to the

dilatoriness of the defendant and was not caused by any action

of the plaintiff. The order may be extended from time to time

in the manner herein prescribed.