II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 263
To restore the integrity of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of
the United States, and for other purposes.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
JANUARY27, 2025
Mr. P
AUL(for himself, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. LEE, Mr. KING, Mr. CRAPO, Ms.
L
UMMIS, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. VANHOLLEN) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary
A BILL
To restore the integrity of the Fifth Amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fifth Amendment In-4
tegrity Restoration Act of 2025’’ or the ‘‘FAIR Act of 5
2025’’. 6
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•S 263 IS
SEC. 2. CIVIL FORFEITURE AND NONJUDICIAL FOR-1
FEITURE. 2
Section 983 of title 18, United States Code, is 3
amended— 4
(1) in subsection (a)— 5
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking 6
‘‘Claim;’’; 7
(B) in paragraph (1)— 8
(i) in subparagraph (A)— 9
(I) in clause (i)— 10
(aa) by striking ‘‘clauses (ii) 11
through (v), in any nonjudicial’’ 12
and inserting ‘‘clause (ii), in 13
any’’; and 14
(bb) by striking ‘‘60’’ and 15
inserting ‘‘7’’; 16
(II) by striking clauses (ii) 17
through (v); and 18
(III) by inserting after clause (i) 19
the following: 20
‘‘(ii) If the identity or interest of a 21
party is not determined until after the sei-22
zure or turnover but is determined before 23
a declaration of forfeiture is entered, the 24
Government shall determine the identity 25
and address of the party or interest within 26
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7 days after the seizure or turnover, and 1
notice shall be sent to such interested 2
party not later than 7 days after the deter-3
mination by the Government of the identity 4
and address of the party or the party’s in-5
terest.’’; 6
(ii) by striking subparagraphs (B) and 7
(C); 8
(iii) by redesignating subparagraphs 9
(D) through (F) as subparagraphs (B) 10
through (D), respectively; and 11
(iv) in subparagraph (C), as so redes-12
ignated, by striking ‘‘nonjudicial’’; 13
(C) by striking paragraph (2); 14
(D) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 15
(4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 16
(E) in paragraph (2)(A), as so redesig-17
nated— 18
(i) by striking ‘‘90’’ and inserting 19
‘‘30’’; and 20
(ii) by striking ‘‘after a claim has 21
been filed’’ and inserting ‘‘after the date of 22
the seizure’’; 23
(2) in subsection (b)— 24
(A) in paragraph (1)— 25
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(i) by amending subparagraph (A) to 1
read as follows: 2
‘‘(A) If a person with standing to contest 3
the forfeiture of property in a civil forfeiture 4
proceeding under a civil forfeiture statute is— 5
‘‘(i) financially unable to obtain rep-6
resentation by counsel; or 7
‘‘(ii) the cost of obtaining representa-8
tion would exceed the value of the seized 9
property, 10
the court may authorize or appoint counsel to 11
represent that person with respect to the 12
claim.’’; and 13
(ii) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 14
‘‘or appoint’’ after ‘‘authorize’’; and 15
(B) in paragraph (2)(A)— 16
(i) by striking ‘‘in a judicial civil for-17
feiture proceeding’’ and inserting ‘‘in a 18
civil forfeiture proceeding’’; 19
(ii) by inserting ‘‘under paragraph 20
(1)’’ after ‘‘counsel’’; 21
(iii) by striking ‘‘, and the property 22
subject to forfeiture is real property that is 23
being used by the person as a primary resi-24
dence,’’; and 25
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(iv) by striking ‘‘, at the request of 1
the person, shall insure’’ and inserting 2
‘‘shall ensure’’; 3
(3) in subsection (c)— 4
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘a pre-5
ponderance of the evidence’’ and inserting 6
‘‘clear and convincing evidence’’; 7
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘a pre-8
ponderance of the evidence’’ and inserting 9
‘‘clear and convincing evidence’’; and 10
(C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert-11
ing the following: 12
‘‘(3) if the Government’s theory of forfeiture is 13
that the property was used to commit or facilitate 14
the commission of a criminal offense, or was in-15
volved in the commission of a criminal offense, the 16
Government shall establish, by clear and convincing 17
evidence, that— 18
‘‘(A) there was a substantial connection 19
between the property and the offense; and 20
‘‘(B) the owner of any interest in the 21
seized property— 22
‘‘(i) used the property with intent to 23
facilitate the offense; or 24
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‘‘(ii) knowingly consented or was will-1
fully blind to the use of the property by 2
another in connection with the offense.’’; 3
(4) in subsection (d)— 4
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking the sec-5
ond sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘The 6
Government shall have the burden of proving 7
that the claimant is not an innocent owner by 8
a preponderance of the evidence.’’; and 9
(B) in paragraph (2)— 10
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 11
‘‘an owner who’’ and all that follows 12
through ‘‘upon learning’’ and inserting ‘‘an 13
owner who, upon learning’’; and 14
(ii) in subparagraph (B)(i), by insert-15
ing before ‘‘For the purposes of this para-16
graph’’ the following: ‘‘If the Government 17
satisfies its burden under paragraph (1), 18
the claimant may rebut the Government’s 19
evidence related to his innocent ownership, 20
including by showing that he did all that 21
could reasonably be expected under the 22
law.’’; 23
(5) in subsection (e)— 24
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(A) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre-1
ceding subparagraph (A)— 2
(i) by striking ‘‘nonjudicial’’; and 3
(ii) by striking ‘‘a declaration’’ and in-4
serting ‘‘an order’’; 5
(B) in paragraph (2)— 6
(i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 7
‘‘declaration’’ and inserting ‘‘order’’; and 8
(ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 9
inserting the following: 10
‘‘(B) Any proceeding described in subpara-11
graph (A) shall be commenced within 6 months 12
of the entry of the order granting the motion.’’; 13
and 14
(C) by striking paragraph (5); 15
(6) in subsection (f)(1), in the matter preceding 16
subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘(a)’’ and inserting 17
‘‘(a)(3)(A)’’; 18
(7) in subsection (g)— 19
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(a)(4)’’ 20
and inserting ‘‘(a)(3)’’; and 21
(B) by amending paragraph (2) to read as 22
follows: 23
‘‘(2) In making this determination, the court 24
shall consider such factors as— 25
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‘‘(A) the seriousness of the offense; 1
‘‘(B) the extent of the nexus of the prop-2
erty to the offense; 3
‘‘(C) the range of sentences available for 4
the offense giving rise to forfeiture; 5
‘‘(D) the fair market value of the property; 6
and 7
‘‘(E) the hardship to the property owner 8
and dependents.’’; and 9
(8) by adding at the end the following: 10
‘‘(k)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law— 11
‘‘(A) no Federal seizing agency may con-12
duct nonjudicial forfeitures; 13
‘‘(B) no property may be subject to for-14
feiture except through judicial process; and 15
‘‘(C) no order of forfeiture may be entered 16
except by a United States district court. 17
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘nonjudicial 18
forfeiture’ means an in rem action that permits the 19
Federal seizing agency to start a forfeiture without 20
judicial involvement.’’. 21
SEC. 3. DISPOSITION OF FORFEITED PROPERTY. 22
(a) R
EVISIONS TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES 23
A
CT.—Section 511(e) of the Controlled Substances Act 24
(21 U.S.C. 881(e)) is amended— 25
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•S 263 IS
(1) in paragraph (1)— 1
(A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 2
(A), by striking ‘‘civilly or’’; 3
(B) by striking subparagraph (A); and 4
(C) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 5
through (E) as subparagraphs (A) through (D), 6
respectively; 7
(2) in paragraph (2)— 8
(A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter 9
preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘subparagraph 10
(B) of paragraph (1)’’ and inserting ‘‘para-11
graph (1)(A)’’; and 12
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘ac-13
cordance with section 524(c) of title 28,’’ and 14
inserting ‘‘the General Fund of the Treasury of 15
the United States’’; 16
(3) by striking paragraph (3); 17
(4) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para-18
graph (3); and 19
(5) in paragraph (3), as redesignated— 20
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 21
‘‘paragraph (1)(B)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 22
(1)(A)’’; and 23
(B) in subparagraph (B), in the matter 24
preceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘paragraph 25
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(1)(B) that is civilly or’’ and inserting ‘‘para-1
graph (1)(A) that is’’. 2
(b) R
EVISIONS TOTITLE18.—Chapter 46 of title 18, 3
United States Code, is amended— 4
(1) in section 981(e)— 5
(A) by striking ‘‘is authorized’’ and all that 6
follows through ‘‘or forfeiture of the property;’’ 7
and inserting ‘‘shall forward to the Treasurer of 8
the United States any proceeds of property for-9
feited pursuant to this section for deposit in the 10
General Fund of the Treasury or transfer such 11
property on such terms and conditions as such 12
officer may determine—’’; 13
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), 14
(5), (6), and (7) as paragraphs (1), (2), (3), 15
(4), and (5), respectively; and 16
(C) in the matter following paragraph (5), 17
as so redesignated— 18
(i) by striking the first, second, third, 19
sixth, and eighth sentences; and 20
(ii) by striking ‘‘paragraph (3), (4), or 21
(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), or 22
(3)’’; and 23
(2) in section 983(g)— 24
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(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘gross-1
ly’’; and 2
(B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘gross-3
ly’’. 4
(c) T
ARIFFACT OF1930.—The Tariff Act of 1930 5
(19 U.S.C. 1304 et seq.) is amended— 6
(1) in section 613A(a) (19 U.S.C. 1613b(a))— 7
(A) in paragraph (1)— 8
(i) in subparagraph (D), by inserting 9
‘‘and’’ after the semicolon; 10
(ii) in subparagraph (E), by striking 11
‘‘; and’’ and inserting a period; and 12
(iii) by striking subparagraph (F); 13
and 14
(B) in paragraph (2)— 15
(i) by striking ‘‘(A) Any payment’’ 16
and inserting ‘‘Any payment’’; and 17
(ii) by striking subparagraph (B); and 18
(2) in section 616 (19 U.S.C. 1616a)— 19
(A) in the section heading, by striking 20
‘‘
TRANSFER OF FORFEITED PROPERTY ’’ 21
and inserting ‘‘
DISMISSAL IN FAVOR OF 22
FORFEITURE UNDER STATE LAW ’’; 23
(B) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘(a) The 24
Secretary’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary’’; and 25
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(C) by striking subsections (b) through 1
(d). 2
(d) T
ITLE31.—Section 9705 of title 31, United 3
States Code, is amended— 4
(1) in subsection (a)(1)— 5
(A) by striking subparagraph (G); and 6
(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (H) 7
through (J) as subparagraphs (G) through (I), 8
respectively; and 9
(2) in subsection (b)— 10
(A) by striking paragraphs (2) and (4); 11
and 12
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 13
(5) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively. 14
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ASSETS FORFEITURE 15
FUND DEPOSITS. 16
Section 524(c)(4) of title 28, United States Code, is 17
amended— 18
(1) by striking subparagraphs (A) and (B); and 19
(2) by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and 20
(D) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively. 21
SEC. 5. STRUCTURING TRANSACTIONS TO EVADE REPORT-22
ING REQUIREMENT PROHIBITED. 23
(a) A
MENDMENTS TO TITLE31.—Section 5324 of 24
title 31, United States Code, is amended— 25
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(1) in subsection (a)— 1
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 2
by inserting ‘‘knowingly’’ after ‘‘Public Law 3
91–508’’; and 4
(B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘of 5
funds not derived from a legitimate source’’ 6
after ‘‘any transaction’’; 7
(2) in subsection (b), in the matter preceding 8
paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘knowingly’’ after ‘‘such 9
section’’; and 10
(3) in subsection (c), in the matter preceding 11
paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘knowingly’’ after ‘‘sec-12
tion 5316’’. 13
(b) P
ROBABLECAUSEHEARING INCONNECTION 14
W
ITHPROPERTYSEIZURESRELATING TOCERTAINMON-15
ETARYINSTRUMENTSTRANSACTIONS.— 16
(1) A
MENDMENT.—Section 5317 of title 31, 17
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 18
end the following: 19
‘‘(d) P
ROBABLECAUSEHEARING INCONNECTION 20
W
ITHPROPERTYSEIZURESRELATING TOCERTAINMON-21
ETARYINSTRUMENTSTRANSACTIONS.— 22
‘‘(1) I
N GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 23
after the date on which notice is provided under 24
paragraph (2)— 25
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‘‘(A) a court of competent jurisdiction shall 1
conduct a hearing on any property seized or re-2
strained under subsection (c)(2) with respect to 3
an alleged violation of section 5324; and 4
‘‘(B) any property described in subpara-5
graph (A) shall be returned unless the court 6
finds that there is probable cause to believe that 7
there is a violation of section 5324 involving the 8
property. 9
‘‘(2) N
OTICE.—Each person from whom prop-10
erty is seized or restrained under subsection (c)(2) 11
with respect to an alleged violation of section 5324 12
shall be notified of the right of the person to a hear-13
ing under paragraph (1).’’. 14
(2) A
PPLICABILITY.—The amendment made by 15
paragraph (1) shall apply to property seized or re-16
strained after the date of enactment of this Act. 17
SEC. 6. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 18
Section 524(c)(6)(A)(i) of title 28, United States 19
Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘from each type of for-20
feiture, and specifically identifying which funds were ob-21
tained from including criminal forfeitures and which were 22
obtained from civil forfeitures,’’ after ‘‘deposits’’. 23
SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY. 24
The amendments made by this Act shall apply to— 25
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(1) any civil forfeiture proceeding pending on or 1
filed on or after the date of enactment of this Act; 2
and 3
(2) any amounts received from the forfeiture of 4
property on or after the date of enactment of this 5
Act. 6
Æ
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