GOVERNOR SIGNS FORFEITURE MEASURE

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri became a national leader in reigning in the
ability of local law enforcement agencies to profit from seizing property
by using federal procedures under a bill signed into law Thursday by Gov.
Bob Holden.

"This truly is a landmark day in Missouri," Holden said. "We are the first
state to take this action."

Under the state Constitution, cash or property seized by police in
connection to a criminal enterprise is supposed to go into a state fund for
education. However, many local law enforcement agencies call in federal
authorities, usually Drug Enforcement Administration agents, to assist in
the seizure. The federal drug agency takes a 20 percent cut of the proceeds
and returns the rest to the local agency, leaving education with nothing.

The new law modifies the Criminal Activity Forfeitures Act to close that
loophole. It clarifies that the seizing agency is the first to exercise
control over the property. Some local authorities claimed they merely
"held" property until federal agents came to "seize" it.

Also, permission of a circuit judge will be required for a local law
enforcement agency to transfer cash or property to federal authorities.

To provide oversight, local agencies must provide a detailed report of all
seizures to their local prosecuting attorney or the state attorney general
and to the state auditor. Failure to comply with the reporting requirement
would be a misdemeanor punishable by a $1,000 fine.

State Sen. Harry Wiggins, D-Kansas City, called passage of the law "a long,
three-year struggle." Similar legislation died on the final day of last
year's legislative session.

Although several law enforcement representatives were on hand at the
bill-signing ceremony, some police groups had opposed closing the loophole.

Another longtime advocate of the change, House Speaker Jim Kreider, D-Nixa,
said his goal "has been to protect the reputation of Missouri's finest law
enforcement" officers, adding that using the federal system to circumvent
the Missouri Constitution created an appearance of impropriety that
besmirched the image of police.

Act Is National Model

"This is a piece of model legislation that many other states are looking
at," Kreider said. "This is a nationwide issue and we are proud in Missouri
to have addressed it."

A report issued by State Auditor Claire McCaskill in 1999 showed that 85
percent of all forfeitures in the state went through the federal process.
Of the $47 million seized by local enforcement, only $7 million was turned
over to education.

The report was incomplete because a number of agencies, including 12 from
Southeast Missouri, failed to respond to McCaskill's inquires. Area
non-respondents included the Cape Girardeau and Sikeston police departments
and the Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Mississippi county sheriff's departments.

Col. Weldon Wilhoit, the superintendent of the State Highway Patrol, said
the law clarifies the power of police and won't hamper drug interdiction
and other crime-fighting efforts.