Sen. Howard Stephenson (R)

SB 52 (Asset Forfeiture Amendments)

Libertas Institute supports this bill.

This bill is model legislation provided by Libertas Institute to require transparency and proactive reporting when the government uses civil asset forfeiture to take a person's property. Following model legislation provided last year that restored property rights protections to forfeiture law—which passed the legislature unanimously—this additional requirement helps the public better understand when and why the state is taking property without an associated criminal conviction.

Libertas Institute supports this bill. The taking of property—especially with civil asset forfeiture, where the government can take property without charging, let alone convicting, a person of a crime—should be subjected to thorough transparency and reporting requirements.