(a) Any agency impounding one or more animals as part of any investigation of a violation of Code Section 4-11-9.2, 16-12-4, or 16-12-37, or otherwise providing care for one or more animals impounded pursuant to this article, may file a petition in a court of competent jurisdiction to hear civil cases requesting the court to require the owner of the animal or animals to pay into the registry of such court funds in an amount sufficient to secure payment of all anticipated costs of impoundment and care.

(b) Every such petition shall contain a description of the time, place, and circumstances of the impoundment, the legal authority for same, and the name and address of the owner of the animal or animals impounded.

(c) Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or other sworn peace officer shall personally serve written process of the petition on the owner of the animal or animals. If the officer is unable to personally serve written process of the petition on the owner of the animal or animals within 30 days of the date of filing of the petition, the officer shall within ten days thereafter post a copy of the petition on the door of the residence of the owner or in another conspicuous place at the location where the animal or animals were impounded.

(d)

(1) Upon the court's receipt of return of service of process of the petition on the owner, the court shall set a hearing on the petition to determine the need to care for and provide for the animal or animals pending the final disposition of the animal or animals. The hearing shall be conducted no less than ten and no more than 15 business days after the court's receipt of return of service of process of the petition on the owner. Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, or other sworn peace officer shall be authorized to serve written notice on the owner of the date, time, and location of the hearing. If no name and address for the owner are set forth in the petition, then such notice shall be posted in a conspicuous place at the location where the animal or animals were impounded.

(2) The scope of the hearing shall be limited to whether the impounding of the animal or animals was authorized. Upon such a showing, the court shall require payment into the registry of the court of an amount sufficient to cover all costs of impoundment and care, as determined by the court, for a period beginning as of the date of impoundment and ending 30 days after the date of the order. Neither the result of a hearing provided for under this subsection nor a statement of an owner made at any such hearing shall be admissible in any criminal prosecution related to the impoundment of the animal or animals.

(3) The owner shall be ordered to deposit an amount equal to the portion of the original deposit amount attributable to the first 30 days after the date of the initial order every 30 days thereafter until the owner relinquishes the animal or animals or until final disposition of the animal or animals. If the required funds are not deposited within five days of the original order setting the amount of the funds, or within five days after the expiration of each applicable subsequent 30 day period, then the animal or animals shall be forfeited to the petitioning agency by operation of law and may, with the consent of any prosecutor prosecuting charges against the owner regarding the owner's animal or animals, be disposed of pursuant to Code Section 4-11-9.6.

(4) At any time before the final disposition of the animal or animals, the owner may relinquish ownership of the animal or animals. All costs of impoundment and care for the animal or animals from the date of impoundment to the date of the relinquishment shall be paid by the owner unless the owner meets the requirements set forth in paragraph (5) of this subsection.

(5) In circumstances where only one animal was impounded, and the owner of the animal is, at the initial hearing or at an adjustment hearing, able to prove indigency as described in Chapter 12 of Title 17, the court, in its discretion, may reduce or waive the requirement for the owner to pay costs of impoundment and care pursuant to this Code section.

(6) The court may correct, alter, or otherwise adjust the owner's 30 day obligation of payment upon a motion made by the owner or petitioning agency at least five days before the expiration date of the then current 30 day payment period. The hearing shall be held within ten days of service of the motion on the opposite party, and any adjustment to the 30 day payment amount shall become effective five days after the court orders, or refuses to order, an adjustment.

(7) Upon the payment of funds into the court registry in accordance with this Code section, the petitioning agency may immediately begin to draw from those funds for payment of the actual costs incurred by the petitioning agency in keeping and caring for the animal or animals from the date of impoundment to the date of the final disposition of the underlying criminal action regarding the owner and the animal or animals.

(8) Upon final disposition of the animal or animals, remaining funds deposited with the clerk of the court shall be refunded to the owner.

(9) In the event that an owner is adjudicated not guilty of all charges specified in a petition filed pursuant to this Code section, such owner may request from the agency that filed the petition a refund of all costs paid by the owner pursuant to such petition. In making any such claim for refund, the procedures provided in Code Section 48-5-380 shall apply.