Texas 2017 - 85th 1st C.S.

Texas House Bill HCR31 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85S11970 KSM-F
2	2	By: Anchia H.C.R. No. 31
3	3
4	4
5	5	CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, Civil asset forfeiture is a process by which a
7	7	local, state, or federal law enforcement agency can seize or
8	8	confiscate a person's property, under the guise that it constitutes
9	9	proceeds of a crime or was instrumental in the commission of a
10	10	crime, without having to convict the person of a crime as the
11	11	process is considered a civil rather than a criminal action; and
12	12	WHEREAS, Since September 2001, state and local law
13	13	enforcement authorities, under the auspices of the Equitable
14	14	Sharing Program, have taken in over $2.5 billion through more than
15	15	62,000 cash seizures from people who were not charged with a crime;
16	16	and
17	17	WHEREAS, Since 2007, the United States Drug Enforcement
18	18	Agency has seized more than $4 billion in cash from people suspected
19	19	of involvement in drug activity, but 81 percent of those seizures,
20	20	totaling approximately $3.2 billion, were conducted
21	21	administratively with no civil or criminal charges brought against
22	22	the owners of the property, and no judicial review of the seizures
23	23	ever occurred; and
24	24	WHEREAS, In the last 10 years, the U.S. Department of Justice
25	25	Asset Forfeiture Fund, which collects proceeds from seized cash and
26	26	other property, has ballooned to $28 billion, and in 2016 alone,
27	27	authorities seized $2 billion, with nearly $100 million of that
28	28	deposited from the State of Texas; and
29	29	WHEREAS, In too many cases, current federal asset forfeiture
30	30	laws create a financial incentive for the pursuit of profit over the
31	31	fair administration of justice, facilitate the circumvention of
32	32	state laws intended to protect citizens from abuse, encourage the
33	33	violation of due process and property rights of Americans, and
34	34	disproportionately impact people of color and those with modest
35	35	means; and
36	36	WHEREAS, Victims of civil asset forfeiture must prove their
37	37	own innocence or the innocence of their property in order to get
38	38	their property back, turning the presumption of innocence on its
39	39	head; and
40	40	WHEREAS, Addressing civil asset forfeiture in its Interim
41	41	Report to the 85th Texas Legislature, the Senate Committee on
42	42	Criminal Justice found that "when abuse of forfeiture does occur,
43	43	the average individual cannot readily defend their property in
44	44	court; attorney costs, low evidentiary standards, and the
45	45	difficulty of asserting the innocent owner defense together place
46	46	an undue burden on individuals attempting to defend their
47	47	property"; and
48	48	WHEREAS, The interim report goes on to state that "the taking
49	49	of private property demands the utmost scrutiny. Divorced from all
50	50	financial incentives, agencies possess a duty to provide a direct
51	51	tie to criminal activity for each occurrence of forfeiture,
52	52	requiring an accompanying increase in evidentiary standard to clear
53	53	and convincing from preponderance of the evidence, a standard
54	54	reserved for civil matters"; and
55	55	WHEREAS, Despite its use by law enforcement to attack the
56	56	financial incentive for crime, the current process for civil
57	57	forfeitures leaves citizens without several vital protections
58	58	afforded to them in criminal proceedings; and
59	59	WHEREAS, On July 19, 2017, United States Attorney General
60	60	Jeff Sessions issued an order further authorizing Department of
61	61	Justice components and agencies to forfeit assets seized by state
62	62	or local law enforcement; now, therefore, be it
63	63	RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas,
64	64	1st Called Session, hereby call for the reversal of the order issued
65	65	on July 19, 2017, by the United States attorney general and for the
66	66	repeal of the civil asset forfeiture program; and, be it further
67	67	RESOLVED, That the civil asset forfeiture program be replaced
68	68	with a process of criminal asset forfeiture that requires:
69	69	(1) the conviction of a crime subject to forfeiture to
70	70	be obtained prior to forfeiture of the property;
71	71	(2) an increase in the evidentiary standard to clear
72	72	and convincing from preponderance of the evidence;
73	73	(3) the prohibition of the forfeiture of homestead
74	74	properties, motor vehicles valued at less than $10,000, and
75	75	currency totaling less than $200;
76	76	(4) the establishment of procedures for a
77	77	proportionality hearing to determine whether the forfeiture is
78	78	unconstitutionally excessive in proportion to the alleged crime;
79	79	and
80	80	(5) the speedy return of property to its rightful
81	81	owner when charges are dropped or the owner is acquitted, as well as
82	82	when the court determines that an owner has a bona fide security
83	83	interest; and, be it further
84	84	RESOLVED, That the U.S. Congress be urged to pass
85	85	comprehensive and effective civil asset forfeiture reform; and, be
86	86	it further
87	87	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
88	88	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
89	89	the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
90	90	Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
91	91	members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
92	92	this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
93	93	memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.