On Tuesday, a Hawaii Senate committee passed a bill that would reform asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction in most cases. But the legislation leaves a loophole open that allows police to circumvent stricter state laws by passing cases off to the feds.
Today, an Arizona House Committee unanimously passed a bill that would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws and prohibit the state from taking a person’s property without a criminal conviction in most cases. The proposed legislation would build on important reforms signed into law in 2017 that opted Arizona out of a federal forfeiture program.
A bill introduced in the Tennessee Senate would make several reforms to the state's asset forfeiture process and close a loophole allowing state and local police to circumvent stringent state asset forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the feds.
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Jan. 28, 2021) – On Tuesday, a Utah Senate committee passed a bill that would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws and make it more difficult for state and local police to participate in a program that allows them to circumvent tighter state asset forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the […]
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Jan 18, 2021) – A bill introduced in the Missouri House would close a loophole allowing state and local police to circumvent stringent state asset forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the federal government.
Rep. Tony Lovasco (R-O’Fallon) filed House Bill 750 (HB750) on Jan. 7. The proposed law would prohibit Missouri law enforcement agencies or prosecutors from entering into agreements to transfer seized property to a federal agency by way of adoption or other means for the purpose of the property’s forfeiture under federal law.
The proposed law would also require any Missouri law enforcement agency participating in a joint task force with federal agencies to transfer responsibility for the seized property to a state prosecutor for forfeiture under state law. Additionally, if a federal agency prohibits the transfer of the property to the state, the law enforcement agency would be fully “prohibited from accepting payment of any kind or distribution o