Criminal Forfeitures in the State of Minnesota
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
CRIMINAL FORFEITURES IN THE STATE OF MINNESOTA DECEMBER 31, 2002 Description of the Office of the State Auditor The Office of the State Auditor (OSA) serves as a watchdog for Minnesota taxpayers by helping to ensure financial integrity, accountability, and cost-effectiveness in local governments throughout the state. Through financial, compliance, and special audits, the OSA oversees and ensures that local government funds are used for the purposes intended by law and that local governments hold themselves to the highest standards of financial accountability. The OSA performs approximately 250 financial and compliance audits per year and has oversight responsibilities for over 4,300 local units of government throughout the state. The office currently maintains five divisions: Audit Practice - conducts financial and legal compliance audits for local governments; Government Information - collects and analyzes financial information for cities, towns, counties, and special districts; Legal/Special Investigations - provides legal analysis and counsel to the Office and responds to outside inquiries about Minnesota local government law; as well as investigates allegations of misfeasance, malfeasance, and nonfeasance in local government. Pension Oversight - monitors investment, financial, and actuarial reporting for over 700 public pension funds; Tax Increment Financing (TIF) - promotes compliance and accountability in local governments’ use of TIF through financial and compliance audits; The State Auditor serves on the State Executive Council, State Board of Investment, Land Exchange Board, Public Employee’s Retirement Association Board, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the Rural Finance Authority Board. Office of the State Auditor 525 Park Street, Suite 400 Saint Paul, Minnesota 55103 (651) 296-2551 [email protected] www.auditor.state.mn.us This document can be made available in alternative formats upon request. Call 651-296- 2551 [voice] or 1-800-627-3529 [relay service] for assistance; or visit the OSA web site: www.auditor.state.mn.us. Criminal Forfeitures in the State of Minnesota For the Year Ended December 31, 2002 August 28, 2003 Government Information Division Office of the State Auditor State of Minnesota Deputy State Auditor Tony Sutton Staff Karen Cook John Jernberg Andrea Johnson David Kazeck Wendy Murphy Billi Sanders Debbie Schultz This page left blank intentionally TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview 1 Criminal Forfeitures 2002 Summary 1 Firearm Forfeitures 2002 Summary 5 DATA TABLES Table 1 - Criminal Forfeitures Report - Cash, Other Forfeited Property, and Property Sold - Sorted by Agency 9 Table 2 - Criminal Forfeitures Report - Cash, Other Forfeited Property, and Property Sold - Sorted by Net Proceeds 43 Table 3 - Criminal Forfeitures Report - Property Destroyed, Retained, or Forwarded to a Federal Agency 71 Table 4 - Firearm Forfeitures Report - Sorted by Law Enforcement Agency 73 APPENDICES Appendix 1 – Agencies Reporting Criminal Forfeitures 2002 123 Appendix 2 – Agencies Reporting Firearm Forfeitures 2002 125 Appendix 3 – Agencies Reporting No Criminal Forfeitures 2002 127 Appendix 4 – Agencies Reporting No Firearm Forfeitures 2002 129 Appendix 5 - Agencies Not Reporting in 2002 131 This page left blank intentionally 2002 Criminal Forfeitures Overview Minnesota criminal statute § 609.5315, subd. 6, directs law enforcement agencies to report all forfeitures to the Office of the State Auditor (OSA) except DWI related forfeitures.1 This report provides information on the amount of money, weapons, and property forfeited in 2002. For OSA purposes, forfeitures are considered complete in the year in which a final decision is rendered on the seized property regardless of the year the property is initially seized. At that time, items are sold, retained for law enforcement purposes, destroyed, forwarded to other law enforcement agencies. There are 485 organized law enforcement agencies in Minnesota, along with 22 multi- jurisdictional task forces and various gang strike forces.2 Historically, less than 40 agencies submitted forfeiture reports to the OSA. This year, letters were sent to the 485 agencies reminding them of their statutory responsibility and reporting requirements and asking them to respond to the OSA if forfeitures were completed. The statutes define “appropriate agencies” that are required to report to the OSA. These include: the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Minnesota State Patrol, all county sheriff’s departments, the suburban Hennepin regional park district park rangers, the Department of Natural Resources Division of Enforcement, the University of Minnesota Police Department, all city police departments, and all airport police departments. The drug task forces and gang strike forces do not have a statutory requirement to report their forfeitures to the OSA, though some do send forms in after forfeiture completion. The appendices list all agencies that reported whether they had each type of forfeiture and also lists all agencies that did not respond to the OSA request, which includes agencies that responded after the deadline passed. Criminal Forfeitures 2002 Summary In 2002, 88 Minnesota law enforcement agencies reported a total of 1,441 criminal forfeitures to the OSA.3 This total includes cash and forfeited property that was sold and property that was destroyed, retained, or forwarded to the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. There were 429 more criminal forfeitures reported in 2002 than in 2001, a 42.1 percent increase.4 The amount of cash forfeited and the gross sales of forfeited property totaled $1,697,945, administrative expenses and lien holder’s obligations totaled $132,339, and net proceeds totaled $1,565,606. Net proceeds involving cash or forfeited property that was sold ranged from negative $4,277 to $25,750.5 Net proceeds per forfeiture averaged $1,112 in 2002, down from $1,305 in 2001. An 1Criminal and firearm forfeitures are authorized by Minnesota Statutes §§ 609.531-609.5317. DWI Offenses are done pursuant to Minnesota Statute § 169A.63 and are not reported to this office. 2 Some of these agencies would not have forfeitures, such as the State Fair Police. Drug task forces and gang strikes forces are comprised of various law enforcement agencies, usually grouped by geographic region. 3 This figure represents forfeitures of cash, or those in which the property was sold. Forfeitures that involved firearms are discussed later in this report. 4 This increase is significant due to the reminder letter going out. The number of agencies reporting increased from 39 before the letter to 88. 5 Net proceeds may be negative if the payment of administrative costs and satisfaction of valid liens against the property exceed the value of the 1 analysis of the net proceeds of 1,408 criminal forfeiture incidents in which the agency received cash or sold the forfeited property showed the following: · 227 (16.1 percent) forfeitures were less than $100. · 553 (39.3 percent) forfeitures ranged from $100 to $499. · 252 (17.9 percent) forfeitures ranged from $500 to $999. · 321 (22.8 percent) forfeitures ranged from $1,000 to $4,999. · 55 (3.9 percent) forfeitures were greater than $5,000. Administrative Expenses and Lien Holder’s Share When agencies seize property, there are costs associated with storage and other expenses. Some forfeiture net proceeds are negative because on occasion expenses are greater than the auction price of the item that was sold. Some agencies may also not be listing the full costs when reporting. Some agencies, such as the Wabasha County Sheriff are lessening these costs by allowing the individual whose property was seized to purchase the item back (usually a vehicle). At that time, the individual signs an agreement with the county attorney and the Sheriff’s Department releasing the county from any responsibility for the item, and in return the forfeiture process is terminated. The funds are not subject to the same distribution as it is under the forfeiture statute; the funds go entirely to the Sheriff’s Department. While this may save the agency the time and costs involved in forfeitures, it raises public policy questions of why forfeitures are completed in the first place; is it for revenue gain, or to deter individuals from committing an offense? Minnesota Statute § 609.531, subd.1a, states that Sections 609.531 to 609.5318 must be liberally construed to carry out the following remedial purposes: (1) to enforce the law; (2) to deter crime; (3) to reduce the economic incentive to engage in criminal enterprise; (4) to increase the pecuniary loss resulting from the detection of criminal activity; and (5) to forfeit property unlawfully used or acquired and divert the property to law enforcement purposes. Types of Crimes and Forfeited Property Criminal activity involving a controlled substance accounted for an overwhelming 1,361 (94.4 percent) of the 1,441 forfeitures reported in 2002. The remaining forfeitures involve murder, theft, prostitution, assault, robbery, criminal sexual conduct, criminal vehicular homicide, and other crimes. Cash was the predominant form of property seized (78.1 percent), followed by cars and boats (20.2 percent), and other items (1.7 percent). If the bulk of the offenses are controlled substance offenses, and the number of drug task forces is increasing, statutory reporting from all drug task forces and gang strike forces would give a better indication as to the extent of forfeitures completed in the state on an annual basis.