Utah Law Enforcement Officials Mislead Legislature to Oppose Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform
When “Initiative B” was being considered in 2000 by Utah voters—a measure designed to limit the ability of government to legally take property from people not convicted of a crime—law enforcement officials strenuously...
HB22: Reforming Civil Asset Forfeiture, Protecting Property Owners
This bill passed the House 56-17 but was tabled in a Senate committee. Libertas Institute supports this bill. Utah recently received a “D-” from the Institute for Justice for its forfeiture laws, and the potential for...
HB167: Asset Forfeiture Only When There’s a Criminal Charge
This bill failed in committee. Libertas Institute supports this bill. Supporters of Libertas Institute are well aware of Utah’s recent controversy surrounding civil asset forfeiture in our state, whereby the Attorney...
U.S. Attorney General Puts the Brakes on Federal Forfeiture of Local Cases
Update: The “equitable sharing” program described below has been restarted 2.5 months later, and local police agencies are once again being given significant amounts of revenue from seized property. U.S. Attorney...
SB52: Reporting Requirements for Forfeiture of Property
This bill passed unanimously in both chambers of the legislature and was signed into law by the Governor. Libertas Institute supports this bill. Whenever we have the opportunity to discuss our legislative priorities and successes...
Forfeiture Revenue for Fiscal Year 2014 Revealed
In a presentation to the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee this week, a representative from the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice presented legislators with a report on how much money has been...