Institute for Justice
Policing for Profit: Ohio
Ohio earns a D- for its civil forfeiture laws:
- Low bar to forfeit and no conviction required
- Poor protections for innocent third-party property owners
- As much as 100% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement
State Forfeiture Laws
Ohio has terrible civil forfeiture laws, earning the state a D-. The government need only show by a preponderance of the evidence that seized property was used in or is the proceeds of a crime in order to forfeit it. Ohio law also places the burden on innocent owners to prove that they did not consent to, or have any knowledge of, the crime to which their property is allegedly tied. Compounding these problems, Ohio law enforcement agencies retain up to 100 percent of forfeiture proceeds in most cases and up to 90 percent in juvenile cases.
The Buckeye State’s forfeiture reporting requirements are also lacking. Agencies were previously required to provide the state attorney general with reports of their annual forfeitures, but this requirement was done away with in 2012. Agencies are now only required to keep an inventory of seized and forfeited property. Through an Ohio Public Records Act request made to the state Office of the Attorney General, the Institute for Justice was able to obtain some forfeiture records for the period of 2010 to 2012. However, several counties and law enforcement agencies failed to provide the attorney general with their forfeiture records, so the data included in this report are incomplete. Between 2010 and 2012, Ohio law enforcement acquired at least $25.7 million—likely much more—in forfeiture proceeds. Ohio could greatly improve law enforcement accountability and forfeiture program transparency with comprehensive reporting requirements.
| Standard of proof | Preponderance of the evidence. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2981.05(D). |
| Innocent owner burden | Owner. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 2981.04(E), .09(A). |
| Profit incentive | Up to 100 percent in general and up to 90 percent in juvenile cases. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2981.13(B)(4). |
| Reporting requirements | Agencies must maintain an inventory of seized property. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 2981.03(G), 2981.11(B). |
State Forfeiture Data
| Currency | Vehicles | Real Property | Other | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | |||||
| Police | $2,617,510 | $144,119 | $35,494 | $110,446 | $2,907,570 |
| Sheriff | $953,616 | $27,738 | $15,545 | $235,368 | $1,232,267 |
| Prosecutor | $1,797,349 | $28,753 | $15,212 | $81,299 | $1,922,613 |
| State Agencies | $770 | $0 | $0 | $293 | $1,063 |
| Task Forces | $204,356 | $37,171 | $0 | $2,976 | $244,503 |
| Total | $5,573,601 | $237,781 | $66,251 | $430,383 | $6,308,016 |
| 2011 | |||||
| Police | $4,807,982 | $231,591 | $0 | $231,928 | $5,271,502 |
| Sheriff | $1,369,994 | $122,913 | $90,701 | $116,646 | $1,700,254 |
| Prosecutor | $2,435,681 | $37,237 | $127,023 | $82,124 | $2,682,065 |
| State Agencies | $232,691 | $0 | $0 | $75,675 | $308,366 |
| Task Forces | $335,355 | $28,237 | $0 | $2,039 | $365,631 |
| Total | $9,181,703 | $419,979 | $217,724 | $508,412 | $10,327,818 |
| 2012 | |||||
| Police | $2,892,867 | $167,454 | $9,308 | $63,284 | $3,132,914 |
| Sheriff | $1,985,042 | $119,615 | $0 | $119,515 | $2,224,172 |
| Prosecutor | $2,153,093 | $8,428 | $11,699 | $104,134 | $2,277,354 |
| State Agencies | $315,647 | $0 | $0 | $48,850 | $364,497 |
| Task Forces | $929,141 | $47,403 | $54,964 | $61,521 | $1,093,029 |
| Total | $8,275,790 | $342,900 | $75,971 | $397,304 | $9,091,965 |
| Grand Total | $23,031,094 | $1,000,660 | $359,945 | $1,336,100 | $25,727,799 |
| Average per year | $7,677,031 | $333,553 | $119,982 | $445,367 | $8,575,933 |
Source: Reports of calendar-year forfeitures from state and local law enforcement agencies provided to the Ohio attorney general and obtained by the Institute for Justice through an Ohio Public Records Act request. Several agencies did not report to the attorney general, and several reports contained forfeited vehicles for which no value or proceeds were listed. In 2012, the requirement for agencies to report to the attorney general was eliminated.
Ohio ranks 43rd for federal forfeiture, with nearly $139 million in Department of Justice equitable sharing proceeds from 2000 to 2013.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Ohio law enforcement agencies are also some of the worst offenders when it comes to participation in the Department of Justice’s equitable sharing program, ranking 43rd nationally. Between 2000 and 2013, Ohio agencies received $138.9 million in DOJ equitable sharing proceeds, averaging almost $10 million per calendar year. More than three-quarters of these proceeds were the result of joint task forces and investigations—practices left mostly untouched by former Attorney General Holder’s policy change attempting to curb equitable sharing. Ohio agencies also received $14.7 million in equitable sharing proceeds from the Treasury Department between 2000 and 2013, averaging over $1 million per fiscal year.
View Local Law Enforcement Data| Year | DOJ (calendar years) | Treasury (fiscal years) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $4,810,268 | $7,000 | |
| 2001 | $6,816,723 | $1,009,000 | |
| 2002 | $8,914,533 | $254,000 | |
| 2003 | $10,672,377 | $78,000 | |
| 2004 | $7,693,145 | $1,212,000 | |
| 2005 | $7,251,515 | $574,000 | |
| 2006 | $13,542,369 | $117,000 | |
| 2007 | $14,695,725 | $2,533,000 | |
| 2008 | $9,949,982 | $2,021,000 | |
| 2009 | $8,041,896 | $430,000 | |
| 2010 | $13,562,934 | $970,000 | |
| 2011 | $10,017,794 | $3,068,000 | |
| 2012 | $10,362,789 | $1,673,000 | |
| 2013 | $12,525,943 | $768,000 | |
| Total | $138,857,992 | $14,714,000 | |
| Average Per Year | $9,918,428 | $1,051,000 |
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.
