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Bills filed in the New York House and Senate would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to require a criminal conviction and opt the state out of a federal asset forfeiture program known as “equitable sharing" in most cases
The proposed law would ban police from transferring property seized under state law to a federal agency for federal forfeiture. Asset forfeiture cases would have to be adjudicated under the more stringent forfeiture process. But the legislation would allow state and local law enforcement agencies to pass forfeiture cases to the feds if they participate on a federal task force.
A bill filed in the Indiana Senate would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking a person’s property without a criminal conviction in most situations. Passage of the bill would also take a small step toward closing a federal loophole that allows police to circumvent more strict state forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the feds.
The legislation would replace the state's civil asset forfeiture process with a criminal process. The proposed law would require a criminal conviction before prosecutors could proceed with asset forfeiture in most cases.
The Hawaii legislature will consider three bills that would reform asset forfeiture laws to prohibit the state from taking property without a criminal conviction in most cases during the 2022 legislative session. But the legislation leaves a loophole open that allows police to circumvent stricter state laws by passing cases off to the feds.