| 1 | 1 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2758 |
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| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 3 | 3 | | _______________ |
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| 4 | 4 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 5 | 5 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 6 | 6 | | _______________ |
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| 7 | 7 | | SENATE, May 2, 2024. |
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| 8 | 8 | | The committee on The Judiciary, to whom was referred the petitions (accompanied by |
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| 9 | 9 | | bill, Senate, No. 1052) of Liz Miranda for legislation relative to criminal forfeiture; |
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| 10 | 10 | | (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1111) of Rebecca L. Rausch for legislation relative to civil |
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| 11 | 11 | | asset forfeiture transparency and data reporting; (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2450) (subject |
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| 12 | 12 | | to Joint Rule 12) of Cynthia Stone Creem for legislation relative to forfeiture reform; |
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| 13 | 13 | | (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1577) of Bradley H. Jones, Jr., and others relative to civil asset |
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| 14 | 14 | | forfeiture improvements under the controlled substances law; (accompanied by bill, House, No. |
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| 15 | 15 | | 1615) of David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf relative to establishing a right to counsel in civil asset |
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| 16 | 16 | | forfeiture cases; (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1642) of Jay D. Livingstone relative to |
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| 17 | 17 | | forfeiture reform; (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1732) of David M. Rogers and Carlos |
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| 18 | 18 | | González relative to civil asset forfeiture; and (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1762) of Danillo |
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| 19 | 19 | | A. Sena, Nicholas A. Boldyga and Rebecca L. Rausch relative to civil asset forfeiture |
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| 20 | 20 | | transparency and data reporting, report the accompanying bill (Senate, No. 2758). |
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| 21 | 21 | | For the committee, |
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| 22 | 22 | | James B. Eldridge 1 of 4 |
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| 23 | 23 | | FILED ON: 4/30/2024 |
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| 24 | 24 | | SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2758 |
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| 25 | 25 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 26 | 26 | | _______________ |
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| 27 | 27 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 29 | 29 | | _______________ |
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| 30 | 30 | | An Act relative to forfeiture reform. |
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| 31 | 31 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 32 | 32 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 33 | 33 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 47 of chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 |
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| 34 | 34 | | 2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 20 and 24, the word “moneys”, each |
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| 35 | 35 | | 3time it appears, and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- monies. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 4 SECTION 2. Said section 47, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out |
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| 37 | 37 | | 5subsection (d) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:- |
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| 38 | 38 | | 6 (d) A district attorney or the attorney general may petition the superior court in the name |
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| 39 | 39 | | 7of the commonwealth in the nature of a proceeding in rem to order the forfeiture of a |
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| 40 | 40 | | 8conveyance, real property, monies or other things of value exceeding $250 subject to forfeiture |
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| 41 | 41 | | 9under subparagraphs (3), (5) and (7) of subsection (a). The petition shall be filed in the court |
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| 42 | 42 | | 10having jurisdiction over the conveyance, real property, monies or other things of value or having |
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| 43 | 43 | | 11final jurisdiction over any related criminal proceeding brought under this chapter. In any such |
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| 44 | 44 | | 12proceeding in which the property is claimed by a person, other than the commonwealth or a |
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| 45 | 45 | | 13subdivision thereof, the commonwealth shall have the burden of proving to the court by a 2 of 4 |
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| 46 | 46 | | 14preponderance of the evidence that the property is forfeitable. The owner of the conveyance or |
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| 47 | 47 | | 15real property, or other person claiming thereunder, shall have the burden of proof as to all |
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| 48 | 48 | | 16exceptions set forth in subsections (c) and (i). |
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| 49 | 49 | | 17 The court shall order the commonwealth to give notice by certified or registered mail to |
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| 50 | 50 | | 18the owner of the conveyance, real property, monies or other things of value and to such other |
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| 51 | 51 | | 19persons as appear to have an interest therein, and the court shall promptly, but not less than 2 |
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| 52 | 52 | | 20weeks after notice, hold a hearing on the petition. A criminal defendant represented by public |
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| 53 | 53 | | 21counsel in any criminal trial related to the violation of this chapter shall be entitled to continued |
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| 54 | 54 | | 22public counsel representation at the hearing on the petition to order a forfeiture under this |
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| 55 | 55 | | 23section. An owner of the conveyance, real property, monies or other things of value who is not a |
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| 56 | 56 | | 24criminal defendant shall be entitled to public counsel if the owner satisfies the requirements for |
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| 57 | 57 | | 25indigency under section 2 of chapter 211D. Upon motion of the owner, the court shall continue |
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| 58 | 58 | | 26the hearing on the petition pending the outcome of any criminal trial related to the violation of |
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| 59 | 59 | | 27this chapter. At such hearing, the court shall hear evidence and make conclusions of law, and |
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| 60 | 60 | | 28shall thereupon issue a final order from which the parties shall have a right of appeal. In any such |
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| 61 | 61 | | 29proceeding in which a final order results in forfeiture, the final order shall provide for disposition |
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| 62 | 62 | | 30of the conveyance, real property, monies or other thing of value by the commonwealth or any |
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| 63 | 63 | | 31subdivision thereof in any manner not prohibited by law, including sale at public auction or by |
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| 64 | 64 | | 32competitive bidding. The proceeds of any such sale may be used to pay the reasonable expenses |
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| 65 | 65 | | 33of storage, maintenance of custody, advertising and notice, and any balance shall be distributed |
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| 66 | 66 | | 34as provided in this section. |
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| 67 | 67 | | 35 The final order of the court shall provide that forfeited monies and the proceeds of any |
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| 68 | 68 | | 36sale under this subsection shall be deposited in the general fund. Forfeited property received 3 of 4 |
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| 69 | 69 | | 37from another jurisdiction, including the federal government, shall be transferred to the office of |
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| 70 | 70 | | 38the state treasurer, sold by the treasurer or designee, and deposited in the general fund. Proceeds |
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| 71 | 71 | | 39from the sale of forfeited property received from another jurisdiction, including, but not limited |
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| 72 | 72 | | 40to, the federal government, shall be transferred to the office of the state treasurer and deposited in |
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| 73 | 73 | | 41the general fund. |
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| 74 | 74 | | 42 SECTION 3. Said section 47, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, |
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| 75 | 75 | | 43in lines 197-203, the following words:- The office of seized property management may receive |
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| 76 | 76 | | 44initial funding from the special law enforcement trust funds of the attorney general and each |
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| 77 | 77 | | 45district attorney established pursuant to subsection (d) and shall subsequently be funded by a |
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| 78 | 78 | | 46portion of the proceeds of each sale of such managed property to the extent provided as payment |
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| 79 | 79 | | 47of reasonable expenses in subsection (d). |
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| 80 | 80 | | 48 SECTION 4. Said section 47, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out |
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| 81 | 81 | | 49subsection (k) and inserting in place thereof the following subsections:- |
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| 82 | 82 | | 50 (k) The attorney general, each district attorney and each police department shall file an |
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| 83 | 83 | | 51annual report with the executive office for administration and finance, the house and senate |
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| 84 | 84 | | 52committees on ways and means and the joint committee on the judiciary detailing all property |
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| 85 | 85 | | 53seized or forfeited pursuant to this section. The report shall provide itemized accounting for all |
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| 86 | 86 | | 54assets, monies and proceeds from the sale of assets within the following asset categories: cash, |
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| 87 | 87 | | 55personal property, conveyances and real property, including any property disposed of by the |
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| 88 | 88 | | 56office of seized property management. The report shall be filed not later than January 31 for the |
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| 89 | 89 | | 57preceding calendar year and shall be a public record. 4 of 4 |
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| 90 | 90 | | 58 (l) Annually, not later than January 31, the committee on public counsel services, in |
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| 91 | 91 | | 59collaboration with the trial court of the commonwealth, shall submit a report to the senate and |
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| 92 | 92 | | 60house committees on ways and means and the joint committee on the judiciary on the provision |
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| 93 | 93 | | 61of public counsel representation under this section including, but not limited to, the: (i) total |
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| 94 | 94 | | 62number of cases involving public counsel representation under this section; (ii) number of such |
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| 95 | 95 | | 63cases where the property owner is a criminal defendant represented by public counsel in a related |
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| 96 | 96 | | 64criminal trial; and (iii) number of such cases where the property owner is not a criminal |
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| 97 | 97 | | 65defendant. |
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