OCU holding car that I am still paying for, how long can they hold it?

This is very bad news, if I understand the situation:  your son was stopped, and when your car, which he was driving, was searched, the police found enough marijuana to charge him as a dealer.  I think you can expect the state to file a lawsuit to forfeit the car.

It may be that they simply aren't finished searching it;  it might also be that they are planning to use the car itself as evidence, for you son's trial if it goes to that.  Either way, they can hold the car for those sorts of purposes at least until the case is resolved.

But in most states, a car that is used in a drug selling operation is subject to forfeiture, which means the state takes the car, and becomes the owner.  You'd still be liable on the note.  You need to talk to a lawyer about this, who can give you accurate advice based on all of the facts of your case.  One place to look for an attorney is our website, http://attorneypages.com

as for a specific time I honestly cannot provide that. I assume you have an attorney for your son and they should be able to get you as close of an answer as possible to the time frame. If the investigation is still open they can continue to hold the car. I also would advise consulting with an attorney because in some states a car can be held and even kept depending on the charge being placed in situations like this

Do not get concerned yet because I am not licensed in TN so am not aware of whether this applies and assume if it did you would have already been notified. So make sure you have a lawyer representing your son and they will fight for the car back as well. Unfortunately I cannot give you the answer you were looking for which is a time limit as there really is not one