FORFEITURE FORMULA PAYING OFF

Rural sheriff's agencies getting bulk of bust proceeds By Jimmie E. Gates
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer

The Lawrence County Sheriff's Department is eager to collect its 80 percent
of $3,900 in cash seized during a recent drug bust in the county by the
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

The approximately $3,120 the department will receive may not seem like much
money to some, but Sheriff Joel Thames sees it as means of securing
bullet-resistant vests or an Intoxilyzer machine.

For rural law enforcement agencies struggling on meager budgets, every
additional dollar means money for equipment, he said. "We are always
scraping for money for equipment."

Almost a year after state law was changed to give local law enforcement 80
percent of the proceeds from forfeited property and the Bureau of Narcotics
20 percent, many local law enforcement agencies have not seen dramatic
benefits from the law change, but they say it's a step in the right direction.

Before last July 1, 80 percent of the proceeds from forfeited property went
to MBN and 20 percent to assisting agencies.

But MBN pushed for the formula to be reversed.

Local law enforcement should get the lion's share of profits, Leake County
Sheriff Greg Waggoner said.

"We normally do all the initial work before calling in the Bureau of
Narcotics for assistance," Waggoner said.

Claiborne County Sheriff Frank Davis said he thinks the change will greatly
benefit rural law enforcement, but he said his department has not worked a
drug seizure case with MBN since the change went into effect.

Waggoner said his department has been involved in two drug busts where
small amounts of cash, between $500 and $1,000, have been seized since the
change in the 80-20 law went into effect.

"For a small, rural law enforcement agency, an extra $2,000 or $3,000 in
the budget means a lot," Waggoner said of drug forfeiture money.

Local law enforcement departments can use the money to buy equipment and
pay for overtime and informants.

MBN Director Don Strange has said the goal in changing the law was to
improve cooperation between state and local law enforcement. Also, he said
it would help get money into rural communities, where it is needed most.

The Bureau of Narcotics is in the process of compiling figures on the cash
and value of property seized in drug cases since the change in the law went
into effect. The figures are expected to be available this week.