Nevada adopted positive reforms to its civil forfeiture laws in 2015, but its law grade is pulled down to a D- by weak protections for innocent owners and a strong financial incentive to seize. Nevada took a step in the right direction by amending state law to require a criminal conviction as a prerequisite to forfeit property seized in connection to a crime. After securing a conviction, prosecutors must tie property to that crime with clear and convincing evidence. However, innocent owners continue to bear the burden of proving that they had no involvement in or knowledge of the crime associated with their property. The Silver State’s grade is further tarnished by a large incentive to seize: Law enforcement agencies retain up to 100 percent of forfeiture proceeds. However, if a given forfeiture account exceeds $100,000 at the end of the fiscal year, 70 percent of the excess funds must be given to the school district in the judicial district where the property was seized. This stipulation creates a “use it or lose it” situation, whereby law enforcement is encouraged to spend forfeiture proceeds as quickly as possible.

In 2015, Nevada adopted a new reporting regime that will require law enforcement agencies to file annual forfeiture reports with the attorney general. Starting April 1, 2016, the Nevada Office of the Attorney General must post each agency’s report, as well as an aggregate report of forfeitures statewide, online. Unfortunately, at the time this report went to print, law enforcement agencies were only required to file quarterly forfeiture reports with their budgetary authorities. These quarterly reports were not aggregated or made available online.