Jeff Brandes files bill to amend civil forfeiture law in Florida

Six weeks after he said he was considering filing such legislation, St. Petersburg Republican state Sen. Jeff Brandes on Thursday filed a bill that prohibits law enforcement agencies from retaining property and assets seized from individuals who are not convicted of a crime.

Civil forfeiture is a controversial legal process that allows police to take assets from persons suspected of involvement with crime or illegal activity without necessarily charging them with wrongdoing.

The legislation amends the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act to prevent law enforcement from supplementing their budgets through assets seized in civil forfeiture proceedings. Under the proposal, property such as vehicles cannot be retained by a law enforcement agency and any assets that are legally seized from an individual under the Contraband Forfeiture Act must be split equally among  local charities and the State of Florida Crime Victims Compensation Trust Fund.

“This legislation recognizes the inherent deficiencies in the current civil asset forfeiture law of Florida and seeks to remove potential conflicts,” Brandes said in a prepared statement. “There is a growing concern nationally about civil asset forfeiture and Florida should be a leader in reform on this issue.”

Since 2008, thousands of local and state police agencies have made more than 55,000 seizures of cash and property worth $3 billion under a civil asset forfeiture program at the Justice Department called Equitable Sharing, prompting Attorney General Eric Holder to announce last month that he was barring local and state police from using federal law to seize cash, cars, and other property without warrants or criminal charges. The Washington Post called it the most sweeping check on police power to confiscate personal property since the seizures began three decades ago as part of the war on drugs. Howevr, it did nothing to address the issue inside the states.

The issue has been of concern to groups such as the ACLU for years, and has been garnering more support from libertarian and conservative groups more recently. Last fall, HBO’s John Oliver broadcast a segment on it during his weekly Sunday night comedy show.

The Florida Sheriffs Association informed Florida Politics this afternoon that they oppose the legislation.