The Asset Forfeiture Practice Gets More Aggressive

Edwin Meese

  The Tulsa Frontier reports that Oklahoma's law enforcement and prosecutors greatly ramped up their asset forfeiture practices during 2017. The complete numbers include both civil asset forfeiture and criminal forfeiture(after a successful prosecution).
  A few court districts reported $0 forfeiture practices. A growing number of current and former prosecutors now repudiate the practice of Civil Asset Forfeiture.
  Among them is the Former US Attorney General, Edwin Meese. He spoke in Tulsa last month and completely repudiated his own former actions as President Reagan's AG.  Meese says that a criminal conviction must be a prerequisite. He says it was developed to go after international cartels who were importing cocaine during the 80s. He said that seizing foreign owned assets was the only effective means of stopping those cartels operating outside US borders.

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the Tulsa Frontier provided an exhaustive report. We recommend reading it.

​During Fiscal Year 2017, Oklahoma district attorneys were awarded more than $6.2 million in cash believed to be involved in the drug trade that was seized by law enforcement, the data shows. During the previous fiscal year, Oklahoma DAs were awarded $3.1 million in seized cash, according to the data.

The total amount of money and property forfeited during fiscal year 2017 is likely much higher than the $6.8 million collected by Oklahoma district attorneys — that amount does not include totals for funds and property seized and forfeited separately by the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, the Department of Public Safety, or through federal agencies. Those groups don’t report their seizure information to the District Attorneys Council.

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District Attorney Forfeiture Revenues

Cash and property forfeiture revenues collected by Oklahoma district attorneys during fiscal years 2016 and 2017.

DA District	FY16	FY17	Increase/Decrease
District 01	$502,292	$390,955	-$111,338
District 02	$183,530	$295,323	$111,793
District 03	$29,009	$56,631	$27,622
District 04	$102,261	$514,027	$411,766
District 05	$45,183	$60,730	$15,547
District 06	$42,251	$115,232	$72,981
District 07	$1,507,258	$3,053,080	$1,545,822
District 08	$53,531	$22,487	-$31,044
District 09	$57,593	$63,875	$6,282
District 10	$25,761	$5,701	-$20,060
District 11	$1,570	$7,181	$5,611
District 12	$57,491	$279,165	$221,674
District 13	$64,408	$86,814	$22,406
District 14	$447,582	$508,742	$61,161
District 15	$34,785	$170,930	$136,145
District 16	$2,848	$3,289	$441
District 17	$11,941	$36,654	$24,712
District 18	$82,854	$58,929	-$23,925
District 19	$16,389	$2,039	-$14,351
District 20	$74,729	$55,542	-$19,187
District 21	$246,761	$286,912	$40,152
District 22	$0	$0	$0
District 23	$5,533	$368,621	$363,088
District 24	$45,222	$120,882	$75,660
District 25	$42,747	$140,124	$97,377
District 26	$0	$0	$0
District 27	$161,448	$104,325	-$57,123
TOTAL	$3,844,977	$6,808,190	$2,963,213

 

Source: Oklahoma District Attorneys Council