Delaware General Assembly

Senate Judicial & Community Affairs 4/5/17

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

4/5/17

Bonini

Sen. Bushweller
Reps. Baumbach, Keeley

Sen. Hansen, Hocker, Lawson, Lopez, McDowell, Pettyjohn, Simpson
Reps. Bennett, Bentz, Briggs King, J. Johnson, Kowalko, Lynn, Outten, Paradee, B. Short

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 11 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO ASSET FORFEITURE PROCESS AND PROVATE PROPERTY PROTECTION.

Civil forfeiture laws represent one of the most serious assaults on private property rights in the nation today. Under civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize your car or other property, sell it and use the proceeds to fund agency budgets—often without so much as charging you with a crime. This Act protects individual liberty and property rights by standardizing forfeitures across all crimes, simplifying procedures, and addressing counterproductive incentives in the law that distort policing priorities. Importantly, this Act does not change the authority of law enforcement to seize property suspected of being associated with crime or limit in any way prosecutors’ ability to charge and prosecute suspected criminals. Moreover, it ensures that those individuals proven guilty of a crime do not keep the fruits of their crime. In doing so, it strikes the right balance between the individual property rights and public safety.

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Takes effect upon being signed into law

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