Civil forfeiture compromise approved.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

SALEM - Police will regain access to some of the money taken from drug dealers under last-minute legislation approved late Thursday that creates a new civil forfeiture law to replace one that was overturned by an appeals court.

The bill, brokered by state Sen. Floyd Prozanski and others, strikes a middle ground between law enforcement officers and civil libertarians over the rules for taking money and property tied to criminal enterprises, most notably drug crimes.

The new law requires a criminal conviction before seeking forfeiture of illegal gains but broadens investigators' ability to seek asset forfeitures and use some of the money to fund new investigations.

The legislation, House Bill 3457, goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski for his signature after passing the House and Senate as both chambers worked toward adjournment of the 2005 session early today.

"This is a sleeper, but this is really important," said Prozanski, D-Eugene, who spent all day Thursday shuttling between chambers to strike the deal.

The compromise bill gained the blessing of the American Civil Liberties Union as well as police, who said it will restore an important source of funding for major narcotics cases, especially methamphetamine investigations.

"It buys back a very important tool for law enforcement to utilize so we can have the ability to go after people who are trafficking in controlled substances," said Lt. Craig Durbin of the Oregon State Police drug enforcement section. "It's a huge help in the fight against meth."

At issue was how to address a pending court challenge to Measure 3, a citizen initiative approved in 2000 that severely limited forfeitures but that has since been overturned by a state appeals court. That decision remains under appeal in front of the state Supreme Court, which could rule any day on the measure's constitutionality.

Before Measure 3, police were able to use civil courts to seek forfeiture of money and property believed to have been obtained in criminal activity, such as drug buys, or purchased with the proceeds of criminal activity. But civil liberties groups mounted a challenge to the practice because police could take property even if its owner never was convicted of a crime and without proving their case by the higher standard required in criminal cases.

Measure 3 raised the bar, requiring police to get a criminal conviction before they could pursue a forfeiture. It also tightened the rules on what is subject to forfeiture, effectively slashing the amounts police could claim and cutting off the major source of funding for narcotics investigations.

Police said Measure 3 was a big reason why many county and regional drug task forces, including Lane County's Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team, disbanded.

"A lot of people did not understand what Measure 3 did as far as taking funding away from law enforcement," Durbin said.

But supporters of the measure said it prevented police from overstepping their authority and using drug investigations to make money. They said the old law tempted police to go after questionable cases to get a suspect's assets even when they didn't have enough evidence to show a crime had been committed.

Prozanski said HB 3457 fixes the forfeiture law by always requiring a criminal conviction before police can seek forfeiture in a separate civil action.

"That's the key to me," he said. "It preserves the intent of the voters by requiring the government to obtain a conviction before they forfeit a person's property based on allegations of criminal wrongdoing."

The new law also requires a higher standard of proof to take a person's home or other real property while requiring the usual "preponderance of evidence" standard for cash and personal property, such as cars.

Another feature of the new law divides forfeiture money between police and other agencies.

Forty percent of all forfeiture proceeds are split among local drug courts for treatment and prevention programs, relief nurseries, the state's drug lab cleanup fund and an oversight committee that will monitor the forfeiture program.

Police get the remaining 60 percent but can use it only to pay for operational costs; it can't be used for salaries or other personnel costs, Durbin said.

That's important because drug cases have extremely high overhead because of the time it takes to infiltrate narcotics operations and the money needed to set up drug buys.

The catch to the new law is that it only will take effect if the Supreme Court strikes down Measure 3. If the ballot measure survives, it will remain the law of the land and police effectively will be blocked from seeking forfeitures.

But advocates on both sides of the issue said they're so pleased with the compromise that they've agreed to refer a new measure to the voters that would put the reworked version of the law in place of the Measure 3 version.

CAPTION(S):

House Majority Leader Wayne Scott works the phones as the Legislature tries to wrap up its business during a marathon session on Thursday. Brian Davies / The Register-Guard MORE NEWS Race to adjourn: Tired lawmakers keep on working into the early hours this morning, the 208th day of the session and the second-longest in state history / Front Page Brian Davies / The Register-Guard Sen. Ben Westlund, R-Bend, sits atop his desk as the state Legislature works toward adjournment on Thursday.