STATUTE WILL DIVERT MORE FORFEITED FUNDS TO LOCAL DEPARTMENTS

Local law departments could have more money with which to buy equipment and
pay overtime and informants under a new law that gives them a greater share
of funds from forfeited property.

That's why Claiborne County Sheriff Frank Davis, president of the
Mississippi Sheriff's Association, is praising the new law that changes how
much money the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics will share with local
departments in the wake of joint drug investigations.

"I believe when agencies cooperate and share information, then I believe
the real losers will be the crooks on the street," Davis said Monday at a
news conference.

Currently, state law says 80 percent of the proceeds from forfeited
property go to the leading agency and 20 percent go to assisting agencies.

The new law, effective July 1, reverses the formula, meaning 20 percent
will go to MBN and 80 percent to assisting agencies.

"That means assisting agencies will directly benefit from helping make our
streets safer from the criminals that damage the lives of our people from
drug manufacturing and sales," said Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who signed Senate
Bill 2708 into law two weeks ago.

The current law has existed since 1972.

Building and enhancing cooperation between state and local law enforcement
agencies was the goal of the Senate bill, said MBN Director Don Strange.

For example, if $40,000 was collected in forfeitures, MBN would get $32,000
and the assisting agencies would get $8,000 under existing law. Strange
said that wasn't enough money for local sheriff's or police departments to
support their programs.

"I think (the new law) is going to make a big difference in the bureau
being able to get money where it's really needed most a " in the rural
communities," Strange said.

"And to the sheriffs and chiefs that really need that money, it will enable
them to become better players and cooperation is going to be enhanced
through this," he said.

Franklin County Sheriff James Newman said his department has always had a
good working relationship with MBN, and he hopes the new law will encourage
small counties to call on MBN more.

"The whole purpose is to make it a better Mississippi and get these drug
dealers off the street," he said.

Musgrove mentioned last week's arrests of 30 suspects in Grenada, Panola,
Yalobusha and Tallahatchie counties as a good example of teamwork among law
enforcement agencies. The arrests resulted from an 18-month investigation
involving federal, local and state law officers.

"This is why we have to make the bond between our agencies even stronger,
to work as a single unit against crime, to work systematically to catch
criminals and to crack down on crime," Musgrove said.