Arizona Adopts Landmark Civil Forfeiture Reform Legislation
On May 6, Arizona Governor Greg Ducey signed into law House Bill 2810, which reforms the state’s civil forfeiture law and strengthens due process and property rights protections. Support for the legislation in both houses was bipartisan and near-unanimous. It passed the House on February 24 on a 57-2-1 vote and the Senate by 29-1 on April 28.
Previously, Arizona civil forfeiture laws were among the worst in the nation. Police were able to seize property from a person suspected of a crime without obtaining a criminal conviction. Furthermore, the standard of proof for forfeiture—preponderance of the evidence—only required the government to demonstrate that it was more likely than not that property was connected to criminal activity.
Among its provisions, House Bill 2810:
Requires a criminal conviction for most forfeitures;
Increases the government’s burden of proof when arguing that seized property is related to a crime; and
Requires law enforcement to return seized property in a timely manner if criminal charges are not pursued or a “not guilty” verdict is rendered.
Arizona now becomes the 16th state to require a criminal conviction before property is forfeited. Indeed, more than half of all states have adopted civil forfeiture reforms in response to civil liberty concerns.
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Additional Reading:
Motion to Suppress in Forfeiture Cases | Building a Strong Legal Foundation for Your Business | How and When Will I Get Back Property Seized by Police? | Rule 41(g) Motion for the Return of Property | This Week’s Civil Forfeiture Outrages (Ninth in a Series: Texas Edition) | Civil Asset Forfeiture Still Abused by Florida Law Enforcement | The Supreme Court Has Limited How Much Private Property States Can Seize | How Policing for Profit Threatens Your Rights (TEDx) | News Paper Articles on Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuses | Two Celebrities Charged With Unlawfully Touting Coin Offerings | Charlotte Is Ground Zero for New FBI Asset Forfeiture Tip Line Program | Forfeiture for Money Transmitting Business | The Evolution of Civil Rights Laws | Navigating Civil Asset Forfeiture (The Court Process) | JUSTICE MANUAL 9-112.000 – Administrative And Judicial Forfeiture | Seizure of Bitcoin for Civil Asset Forfeiture | Institute for Justice’s Darpana Sheth Discusses Civil Asset Forfeiture | Reforming Civil Asset Forfeiture (ACLU) | Innocent Owner Defense | The Difference Between Administrative and Judicial Forfeiture | How Property Owners Can Build a Strong Legal Defense | Asset Forfeiture Attorney – Rucci Law | Mike Stenhouse — Civil Asset Forfeiture | Top Legal Defenses Against Civil Forfeiture in California
