Bill Text: TX HCR31 | 2017 | 85th Legislature 1st Special Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Calling for the reversal of the U.S. attorney general's order issued on July 19, 2017, for the repeal of the civil asset forfeiture program, and for the program's replacement with a criminal asset forfeiture process.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-08-02 - Referred to State & Federal Power & Responsibility, Select [HCR31 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HCR31-Introduced.html
| 85S11970 KSM-F | ||
| By: Anchia | H.C.R. No. 31 | |
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| WHEREAS, Civil asset forfeiture is a process by which a | ||
| local, state, or federal law enforcement agency can seize or | ||
| confiscate a person's property, under the guise that it constitutes | ||
| proceeds of a crime or was instrumental in the commission of a | ||
| crime, without having to convict the person of a crime as the | ||
| process is considered a civil rather than a criminal action; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Since September 2001, state and local law | ||
| enforcement authorities, under the auspices of the Equitable | ||
| Sharing Program, have taken in over $2.5 billion through more than | ||
| 62,000 cash seizures from people who were not charged with a crime; | ||
| and | ||
| WHEREAS, Since 2007, the United States Drug Enforcement | ||
| Agency has seized more than $4 billion in cash from people suspected | ||
| of involvement in drug activity, but 81 percent of those seizures, | ||
| totaling approximately $3.2 billion, were conducted | ||
| administratively with no civil or criminal charges brought against | ||
| the owners of the property, and no judicial review of the seizures | ||
| ever occurred; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In the last 10 years, the U.S. Department of Justice | ||
| Asset Forfeiture Fund, which collects proceeds from seized cash and | ||
| other property, has ballooned to $28 billion, and in 2016 alone, | ||
| authorities seized $2 billion, with nearly $100 million of that | ||
| deposited from the State of Texas; and | ||
| WHEREAS, In too many cases, current federal asset forfeiture | ||
| laws create a financial incentive for the pursuit of profit over the | ||
| fair administration of justice, facilitate the circumvention of | ||
| state laws intended to protect citizens from abuse, encourage the | ||
| violation of due process and property rights of Americans, and | ||
| disproportionately impact people of color and those with modest | ||
| means; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Victims of civil asset forfeiture must prove their | ||
| own innocence or the innocence of their property in order to get | ||
| their property back, turning the presumption of innocence on its | ||
| head; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Addressing civil asset forfeiture in its Interim | ||
| Report to the 85th Texas Legislature, the Senate Committee on | ||
| Criminal Justice found that "when abuse of forfeiture does occur, | ||
| the average individual cannot readily defend their property in | ||
| court; attorney costs, low evidentiary standards, and the | ||
| difficulty of asserting the innocent owner defense together place | ||
| an undue burden on individuals attempting to defend their | ||
| property"; and | ||
| WHEREAS, The interim report goes on to state that "the taking | ||
| of private property demands the utmost scrutiny. Divorced from all | ||
| financial incentives, agencies possess a duty to provide a direct | ||
| tie to criminal activity for each occurrence of forfeiture, | ||
| requiring an accompanying increase in evidentiary standard to clear | ||
| and convincing from preponderance of the evidence, a standard | ||
| reserved for civil matters"; and | ||
| WHEREAS, Despite its use by law enforcement to attack the | ||
| financial incentive for crime, the current process for civil | ||
| forfeitures leaves citizens without several vital protections | ||
| afforded to them in criminal proceedings; and | ||
| WHEREAS, On July 19, 2017, United States Attorney General | ||
| Jeff Sessions issued an order further authorizing Department of | ||
| Justice components and agencies to forfeit assets seized by state | ||
| or local law enforcement; now, therefore, be it | ||
| RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas, | ||
| 1st Called Session, hereby call for the reversal of the order issued | ||
| on July 19, 2017, by the United States attorney general and for the | ||
| repeal of the civil asset forfeiture program; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the civil asset forfeiture program be replaced | ||
| with a process of criminal asset forfeiture that requires: | ||
| (1) the conviction of a crime subject to forfeiture to | ||
| be obtained prior to forfeiture of the property; | ||
| (2) an increase in the evidentiary standard to clear | ||
| and convincing from preponderance of the evidence; | ||
| (3) the prohibition of the forfeiture of homestead | ||
| properties, motor vehicles valued at less than $10,000, and | ||
| currency totaling less than $200; | ||
| (4) the establishment of procedures for a | ||
| proportionality hearing to determine whether the forfeiture is | ||
| unconstitutionally excessive in proportion to the alleged crime; | ||
| and | ||
| (5) the speedy return of property to its rightful | ||
| owner when charges are dropped or the owner is acquitted, as well as | ||
| when the court determines that an owner has a bona fide security | ||
| interest; and, be it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the U.S. Congress be urged to pass | ||
| comprehensive and effective civil asset forfeiture reform; and, be | ||
| it further | ||
| RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official | ||
| copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to | ||
| the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of | ||
| Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the | ||
| members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that | ||
| this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a | ||
| memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. | ||
