CIVIL FORFEITURE ISSUES


Send posting suggestions to this link
Relevant State Documents

State forfeiture statutes are available at https://www.kansasleo.com/KSAs/Ch60Art41.htm.

The KBI regulations on civil forfeiture are at this link.

2016 Legislative Post Audit Report on Civil Forfeiture
          See the Report Highlights
          See the Full Report

Relevant Documents From Other Sources

Forfeiture: Why we need civil forfeiture without requirement for conviction   

Unfairly Maligned - An article from the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association (See page 44 of the document)
Relevant State Documents

State forfeiture statutes are available at https://www.kansasleo.com/KSAs/Ch60Art41.htm.

The KBI regulations on civil forfeiture are at this link.

2016 Legislative Post Audit Report on Civil Forfeiture
          See the Report Highlights
          See the Full Report

Attorney General Opinions
NOTE: These were all issued prior to the change in statutes in 2018.
2007-15 Use of [State] Forfeiture Funds
2012-013  Court fees relating to law enforcement forfeiture cases.
2013-010 Forfeiture, Use of Funds for Victim/Witness Relocation
AG Opinion 2018-14 relating to expenditure of forfeiture funds by prosecutors. 
2018 State Legislation
HB2459
Bill Summary
Civil Asset Forfeiture: Effective July 1, 2018, there are major changes to the Civil Asset Forfeiture laws, mostly in legal process and creating centralized state reporting requirements. The changes most directly effecting affecting line operations are in KSA 60-4109 (a)(4) creating a requirement by the officer making the decision to seek forfeiture to complete an affidavit of facts supporting forfeiture; a change to KSA 60-4106 (a)(2) increasing the level of proof relating to vehicles or other conveyance from “it appears” the owner or other person in charge of the conveyance is a consenting party or privy to the civil forfeiture law violation, to proof by preponderance of evidence; and a change to KSA 60-4112 striking the rebuttable presumption of intent to facilitate an act giving rise to forfeiture based on location near controlled substances at the time of seizure. The proximity to controlled substances is instead one of four factors in a non-exclusive list to consider as the totality of the circumstances in determination of the items being subject to forfeiture.

2017 Judicial Council Committee

The legislature referred all 2017 civil forfeiture related bills to the Judicial Council for study and recommendation. (See the list of bills below.) The Judicial Council created a special study committee for this topic. See their final report here.