Institute for Justice
Policing for Profit: Arizona
Arizona earns a D- for its civil forfeiture laws:
- Low bar to forfeit and no conviction required
- Poor protections for innocent third-party property owners
- 100% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement
State Forfeiture Laws
Arizona’s terrible civil forfeiture laws earn a D- grade as some of the worst in the country. The standard of proof for forfeiting property in Arizona is preponderance of the evidence, meaning that the government just has to show that it is more likely than not that seized property is tied to criminal activity. Worse, when an owner wishes to make an innocent owner claim in order to retrieve seized property, that person bears the burden of proving her own innocence. Arizona law also gives law enforcement a considerable incentive to seize property, allowing law enforcement agencies to keep 100 percent of the funds raised through civil forfeiture.
The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission publishes quarterly reports of forfeiture revenues and expenditures on its website. Although useful for examining overall trends, key details are lacking, such as the number of forfeitures, whether forfeitures accompanied criminal convictions and specifics about expenditures.
According to the reports, from 2000 to 2014, Arizona law enforcement collected a whopping $412 million in forfeiture revenue, which equates to more than $27 million each fiscal year. Making matters worse, Arizona agencies spend a considerable proportion of forfeiture funds on salaries and overtime for law enforcement officers: Data published by the ACJC indicate that between 2000 and 2014 law enforcement spent over $62 million in forfeiture money—28 percent of all expenditures from forfeiture funds—on “administrative expenses,” which include benefits, salaries and overtime.
| Standard of proof | Preponderance of the evidence. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-4311(M). |
| Innocent owner burden | Owner. Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-4304(4)–(5), 13-4311(M). |
| Profit incentive | 100 percent. Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-4315, 13-2314.01. |
| Reporting requirements | Law enforcement agencies are required to file quarterly forfeiture reports with the Criminal Justice Commission, which must aggregate those reports and submit them to the Legislature. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 13-2314.01(F)–(H). |
| Other sources | Keller, T., Simpson, D., & Carpenter, D. M. (2012). Arizona’s profit incentive in civil forfeiture: Dangerous for law enforcement; dangerous for Arizonans. Tempe, AZ: Institute for Justice. Retrieved from http://www.ij.org/images/pdf_folder/private_property/forfeiture/az-forfeiture-report.pdf. |
State Forfeiture Data
| Year | Reported Forfeiture Proceeds |
|---|---|
| 2000 | $9,367,316 |
| 2001 | $9,649,223 |
| 2002 | $11,362,722 |
| 2003 | $12,414,334 |
| 2004 | $13,807,821 |
| 2005 | $21,989,986 |
| 2006 | $20,606,951 |
| 2007 | $45,345,606 |
| 2008 | $19,836,898 |
| 2009 | $27,491,832 |
| 2010 | $55,904,233 |
| 2011 | $42,712,374 |
| 2012 | $43,036,040 |
| 2013 | $42,118,485 |
| 2014 | $36,281,212 |
| Total | $411,925,033 |
| Average per year | $27,461,669 |
Source: Quarterly reports of state and local forfeiture monies compiled by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission and made publicly available on its website. These numbers are reported for fiscal years and represent the value of cash and property sold.
Arizona ranks 32nd for federal forfeiture, with nearly $70 million in Department of Justice equitable sharing proceeds from 2000 to 2013.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Arizona law enforcement’s use of the Department of Justice’s equitable sharing program results in a ranking of 32nd nationally. In calendar years 2000 to 2013, Arizona law enforcement agencies received nearly $70 million in DOJ equitable sharing proceeds, averaging just under $5 million per year. Most of these proceeds—93 percent—came from joint task forces and investigations, the kind of equitable sharing forfeitures largely unaffected by the DOJ’s recent policy change. State and local agencies also netted $23 million in equitable sharing proceeds—around $1.7 million annually—from the Treasury Department over fiscal years 2000 to 2013.
View Local Law Enforcement Data| Year | DOJ (calendar years) | Treasury (fiscal years) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $1,820,617 | $1,090,000 | |
| 2001 | $3,439,388 | $1,160,000 | |
| 2002 | $2,069,734 | $59,000 | |
| 2003 | $2,645,960 | $2,672,000 | |
| 2004 | $2,013,948 | $2,621,000 | |
| 2005 | $5,317,722 | $6,259,000 | |
| 2006 | $7,388,489 | $326,000 | |
| 2007 | $5,893,152 | $613,000 | |
| 2008 | $6,361,529 | $2,991,000 | |
| 2009 | $3,990,219 | $1,004,000 | |
| 2010 | $11,111,859 | $298,000 | |
| 2011 | $7,815,345 | $667,000 | |
| 2012 | $3,573,703 | $2,454,000 | |
| 2013 | $6,552,577 | $1,017,000 | |
| Total | $69,994,240 | $23,231,000 | |
| Average Per Year | $4,999,589 | $1,659,357 |
DOJ Equitable Sharing,
Adoptive vs. Joint, 2000-2013
Adoptions
Joint Task Forces and Investigations
Seizures
Proceeds
DOJ Equitable Sharing Proceeds, 2000-2013
Sources: Institute for Justice analysis of DOJ forfeiture data obtained by FOIA; Treasury Forfeiture Fund Accountability Reports. Data include civil and criminal forfeitures. Because DOJ figures represent calendar years and Treasury figures cover fiscal years, they cannot be added.
