Senate Judiciary hears law enforcement related bills including asset forfeiture

***UPDATE Senate Judiciary committee amended HB 1286, Asset Forfeiture reform, and gave the bill a Do Pass recommendation - following the recommendation from law enforcement. Bill will be voted on the Senate floor Thursday or Friday.

The Senate Judiciary heard testimony Tuesday on HB 1286 which is a bill to reform the asset forfeiture process. NDACo along with State's Attorneys and Sheriffs oppose the bill. However, Chair Diane Larson presented an amended version of the bill that our county and other law enforcement can support. We have been involved in the development of the amendment in order to hopefully reach a compromise on this issue.

In summary, the amended version:

• In situations where there is no conviction, a forfeiture is allowed if the court finds there is evidence "beyond reasonable doubt" the property was used in the commission of a crime or involved in criminal activity. This change increases the burden of proof required.
• The amendment we support also requires political subdivisions to create a civil asset forfeiture fund. If a political subdivision does not do this, funds from forfeitures would be deposited into the Attorney General Asset Forfeiture fund. 
• Still remaining in the bill, that we support, is a reporting requirement for law enforcement to report their asset forfeitures to the Attorney General and restricting forfeitures that are unconstitutionally excessive by requiring that forfeitures are proportionate to the crime. 

Law enforcement along with several state agencies also opposed HB 1290, which restricts law enforcement from searching private property without permission. Several concerns were brought forward outlining how this bill will restrict law enforcement's ability to do their job including serving civil papers, conducting searches for missing people, following up on investigations and checking for things like oil spills, water related issues or complaints. The opposition from Department of Mineral Resources, Department of Health and Game and Fish were helpful in conveying that this is more than a law enforcement issue.