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Missouri House Committee Holds Hearing on Bill to Opt the State Out of Federal Asset Forfeiture Program JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (March 11, 2021) – On Tuesday, a Missouri House committee held a hearing on a bill that 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 agenc...

The Utah House unanimously gave final approval to a bill that would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws and opt out of a federal program that allows state and local police to circumvent tighter state asset forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the feds.

On Monday, 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 West Virginia House would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws and prohibit the state from taking a person’s property without a criminal conviction. The proposed law would also opt West Virginia out of a federal program that allows police to bypass more strict state asset forfeiture laws.

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.