Institute for Justice, private property legal advocates of Kelo fame, say Colorado’s HB 17-1313, is the nation’s most comprehensive asset forfetiture reform.
HB 17-1313 will:
- Require biannual reporting of the type of property seized, place of the seizure (e.g. which direction on a highway), if any criminal charges were filed in relation to the seizure, if the forfeiture was contested, and the final disposition of the property;
- Require agencies to report their forfeiture expenditures in detail;
- Require that all forfeiture reporting be posted to a public, searchable database; and
- Impose $500 fines for failure to comply with the reporting requirements. If an agency has not complied within 75 days of the due date, it must pay either a $500 fine or 50 percent of the forfeiture proceeds it received during the reporting period, whichever is greater.