In a unanimous decision, the Kansas Legislature has sent a bill to Governor Laura Kelly’s desk that aims to significantly reform the state’s civil asset forfeiture laws. This legislation, developed in the wake of public outcry and inspired by the late Rep. Gail Finney’s advocacy, represents a bipartisan effort to protect Kansans’ property and due process rights.
Finney, who represented a lower-income district of Wichita, had criticized the 1994 forfeiture statute for unfairly targeting the poor and minorities and for operating on mere suspicion rather than proven illegal activity. Despite her passing in 2022, her voice echoed through the halls of the legislature as her colleagues carried the torch of reform.
The transformative Senate Bill 458, which passed 120-0 in the House and 35-0 in the Senate, makes numerous changes to current law. Significantly, it narrows the scope of offenses related to controlled substances that can lead to forfeiture, regardless of prosecution or conviction status. This shift away from what has been dubbed “profit-based policing” is expected to reduce the number of properties seized without adequate legal cause.
Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican and attorney, celebrated the passage as the culmination of “a lot of work by many folks, including our dear colleague Gail Finney.” Similarly, Sen. Kellie Warren, a Leawood attorney and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, praised the bill as a meaningful stride toward righting the imbalances of civil asset seizure and forfeiture cases.
Under the new bill, courts are tasked with determining whether the forfeiture is constitutionally excessive, and the burden of proof is heightened for the government’s attorneys. Forfeiture requests must be made within a truncated timeframe, if state assistance was declined, the seizing agency must return property to the owner within 30 days.
In a nod to due process, the bill prevents law enforcement agencies from inducing owners to waive their property rights before forfeiture proceedings and sets limits on transferring cases to federal authorities. Moreover, claimants who prevail in civil asset cases are entitled to reasonable attorney fees, interest, and proceeds from any sale of seized property, aligning the financial incentives with just outcomes.
Although some, like Sen. David Haley, expressed disappointment over the bill not including the right to a jury trial for defendants in seizure cases—a provision sought by Finney to level the judicial field—others view it as an incremental yet significant reform.
The new requirements for more detailed reporting and transparency are set to shed light on the practices of civil asset forfeiture across the state. As the Kansas Judicial Council reveals, between July 2019 and November 2023, law enforcement agencies in Kansas seized $23.1 million in property, with a slow process to return a mere quarter of that amount to rightful owners.
Relevant articles:
– Kansas Legislature brings gavel down on civil asset seizure powers of law enforcement
– Kansas Legislature brings gavel down on civil asset seizure powers of law enforcement • Kansas Reflector, Kansas Reflector, Thu, 11 Apr 2024 19:42:19 GMT
– Headlines for Thursday, April 11, 2024, Kansas Public Radio, Thu, 11 Apr 2024 15:17:00 GMT