Due Process Asset Forfeiture Act

The bill replaces existing statutes on public abatement and instead enacts provisions concerning criminal forfeiture. The bill:

• Limits forfeiture so it can occur only when a defendant is convicted of a crime of unlawful distribution, manufacturing, dispensing, or selling a controlled substance;
• Specifies that a forfeiture proceeding is not a separate civil proceeding but part of a defendant's criminal proceeding;
• Specifies when personal property may be seized with or without process;
• Establishes duties and procedures when property is seized;
• Establishes court procedures for various parties;
• Allows for the disposition of seized assets and proceeds consistent with prior law; and
• Establishes limitations on seizures involving the federal government.

The bill requires that a report related to a seizure and forfeiture includes the estimated value and new equity of the property and information on the outcome of the forfeiture proceeding.

The bill appropriates $22,549 to the department of local affairs that is reappropriated to the office of the governor for use by the office of information technology and includes 0.2 FTE.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)