S3205

An Act concerning asset forfeiture and supplementing Title 2C of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. A county prosecutor shall compile and submit to the Attorney General on a quarterly basis a report containing information pertaining to each seizure and forfeiture of funds or property by a law enforcement agency within the county pursuant to N.J.S.2C:64-1 et seq., N.J.S.2C:41-1 et seq., or P.L.1994, c.121 (C.2C:21-23 et seq.).

The quarterly report shall include:

(1) information on the seizure of the property, including a description of the seized property, the date of seizure, the amount of funds or estimated value of the seized property, and the alleged criminal offense associated with the seizure;

(2) the disposition of any criminal action related to the seizure;

(3) information on forfeiture of the seized property, including:

(a) whether the forfeiture involved prima facie contraband or was enforced by civil action pursuant to N.J.S.2C:64-1 et seq., the forfeiture was a result of racketeering activity pursuant to N.J.S.2C:41-1 et seq., or the forfeited funds or property were obtained from an action involving financial facilitation of a crime pursuant to P.L.1994, c.121 (C.2C:21-23 et seq.); and

(b) whether a person with a property interest in the seized property was represented by counsel at the forfeiture proceeding, if applicable;

(4) information on the final disposition of the seized property, including whether the property was returned to the owner, destroyed, or sold or retained after forfeiture, and the date of disposition;

(5) information on the estimated value of the forfeited property, including the gross amount received from the forfeiture, the total expenses deducted as part of the forfeiture action, and the net amount received from the forfeiture;

(6) whether the forfeiture resulted from an adoptive seizure; and

(7) any other information the Attorney General requires.

b. A county prosecutor shall include in the quarterly report information concerning any forfeiture funds or property received by a law enforcement agency within the county as a result of equitable sharing with a federal agency or other law enforcement agency, including the amount of forfeited funds or the estimated value of forfeited property received by the agency.

c. A county prosecutor shall compile and submit to the Attorney General on a quarterly basis a report on the use of forfeited funds and property including:

(1) the use of any forfeiture accounts in the county, including the specific law enforcement purpose for which an expenditure was made from an account and the date of the expenditure; and

(2) the specific law enforcement purpose for which forfeited property is used.

d. A county prosecutor may use proceeds from forfeiture funds to pay the cost of compiling and reporting seizure and forfeiture information required pursuant to this section.

e. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to require the county prosecutor to disclose any information that could reasonably jeopardize the safety of any person or any criminal investigation in progress. This exception shall be narrowly construed to prevent disclosure of information that would be harmful to a bona fide law enforcement purpose or the public safety.

2. The Attorney General shall:

a. develop an asset forfeiture reporting form to be completed by a county prosecutor to implement the provisions of section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill);

b. publish on the Attorney General website the asset forfeiture reports submitted by each county prosecutor pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill); and

c. annually submit a summary report to the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1) and make the summary report available to the public on the Attorney General’s website.

3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month next following enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires county prosecutors to compile and submit to the Attorney General certain reports concerning asset seizure and forfeiture by law enforcement.

Specifically, these reports are to include information pertaining to the seizure of property; the disposition of any criminal action related to the seizure; information pertaining to the forfeiture of property; the final disposition of the seized property; the value of property seized and forfeited; whether the forfeiture resulted from an adoptive seizure; and any other information required by the Attorney General. The bill also requires county prosecutors to report information about the amount of forfeiture funds received or the value of forfeited property received through equitable sharing with a federal department or other law enforcement agency.

The bill requires county prosecutors to compile and submit to the Attorney General information concerning the law enforcement purpose for which forfeiture funds and forfeited property are used. Forfeiture accounts may be used by a county prosecutor to pay the costs associated with compiling and submitting the asset forfeiture reports required under the bill.

The county prosecutor would not be required to disclose any information that could reasonably jeopardize the safety of any person or any criminal investigation that is in progress. This exception is to be narrowly construed to prevent disclosure of information that would be harmful to a bona fide law enforcement purpose or the public safety.

Under the provisions of the bill, the Attorney General is required to: (1) develop an asset forfeiture form to be completed by county prosecutors; (2) publish the county prosecutor quarterly reports on the Attorney General’s website; and (3) submit an annual summary report to the Legislature and make the report publicly available on the Attorney General’s website.