Before her death, Rep. Gail Finney ruffled state and local police officials and prosecutors by publicly denouncing as unjust the state law allowing civil asset seizure. The Legislature last week voted unanimously in favor of a bill reforming the law.
Members of a Kansas Legislature committee agreed to recommend reform of the system relied upon by law enforcement agencies to seize millions of dollars annually in cash and property from people suspected, but not convicted, of crimes.
Police can take money, cars and other property from Kansans through a process called civil asset forfeiture. Police say it’s a tool that stops criminals. But opponents say law enforcement takes too much.
Federal prosecutors in Kansas have given up their effort to retain cash seized from a van carrying the proceeds of legal marijuana sales in Kansas City, Missouri.
August Rudisell/The Lawrence Times
A push for more accountability from Kansas law enforcement agencies that seize cash, cars and contraband — often without filing criminal charges against the owner — has generated a wealth of new information. But the numbers often don’t add up.
Police can keep seized property “as long as necessary,” state statute says, if they believe it could be evidence in a trial. A proposed change to state law would require police to give items back.
Photo Illustration-Carlos Moreno / KCUR 89.3
Legal experts are scratching their heads over a case that implicates a murky area of the law governing when legal marijuana businesses can be prosecuted in states where marijuana is still not legal.
