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| Relating to the use of proceeds from criminal asset forfeiture to provide services to domestic victims of trafficking. |
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
HB 2058 would allow funds seized via asset forfeiture to cover the costs of a contract with a municipal or county program to provide services to domestic victims of trafficking.
We oppose any asset forfeiture that does not require a criminal conviction in order to make the alleged contraband subject to forfeiture. While this bill would not expand asset forfeiture, it would use asset forfeiture funds for a purpose which will make forfeiture much more difficult to abolish in the long term (in much the same way that the way funds from the Driver Responsibility Program have made that onerous program so difficult to abolish). No matter how noble the purpose to which forfeited funds are directed, no money or property should ever be forfeited absent a relevant criminal conviction. For these reasons we oppose HB 2058.
Should this bill be amended to only apply to the proceeds of forfeiture that result from a criminal conviction we would withdraw our objection to the bill.
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