Proposal nudges sheriffs into civil asset forfeiture
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION and House leaders seem intent on giving the state’s sheriffs a more formal role in accessing civil asset forfeiture money – the controversial bounty that law enforcement officials take from suspected criminals.
State law calls for forfeiture funds to be split evenly between police and prosecutors, but occasionally some of the funds have been shared with at least one sheriff. The budgets proposed by Gov. Charlie Baker and House leaders contain a provision that would set up trusts to collect those funds. Baker officials portray the budget provision as an accounting change, but some are wary of what it might portend.
Rep. Antonio Cabral, a New Bedford Democrat who thinks that some of the forfeiture funds should go towards substance abuse treatment, said sheriffs should not be taking part in the system at all and filed an amendment to eliminate the budget provision.
“They’re not involved in any of that, so why would we need to amend that section of the law to include sheriffs?” Cabral asked ahead of the House budget deliberations that begin today. The primary responsibility of sheriffs is to oversee jails and houses of correction, but they can also play a role in other law enforcement activities.
Read more: https://commonwealthmagazine.org/criminal-justice/proposal-nudges-sheriffs-into-civil-asset-forfeiture/