The Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas officers couldn't keep your money without criminal conviction under civil asset forfeiture bill
Kansas officers could soon have a more difficult time taking and keeping cash and other property from people they suspect are connected to crimes.
Lawmakers are weighing two proposals targeting civil asset forfeiture, a legal procedure allowing the government to take money, guns, vehicles and other property they believe was involved in a crime.
House Bill 2648 would require law enforcement to get a criminal conviction before proceeding with asset forfeiture and send the proceeds to the state general fund, among other related provisions. The 22-page bill was requested by lobbyist Mike O'Neal on behalf of Kansas Policy Institute, a limited-government think tank.
House Bill 2640 would create a new process for criminal forfeiture of property worth less than $100,000. Rep. Dan Osman, D-Overland Park, introduced the 10-page bill, which would also bar seizure of money amounts under $200 and vehicles worth less than $2,000, among other provisions.
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Jeanette Bottler, of the Justice Action Network, said lawmakers should protect innocent people from having their property taken.
"Asset forfeiture was one of the many grievances our founding fathers held against the king of England," she said.