Arizona
Arizona earns a D- for its civil forfeiture laws.
Somewhat higher bar to forfeit: Prosecutors must provide clear and convincing evidence that property is connected to a crime. Update: HB 2810 (2021) created a strong conviction provision that requires the conviction of an owner with limited exceptions. Once conviction provision is satisfied, property must be linked to the crime by clear and convincing evidence.
Poor protections for the innocent: Third-party owners must prove their own innocence to recover seized property. Update: HB 2810 (2021) improved protections for innocent owners. Now, the government must prove by clear and convincing evidence that a third-party owner knew about the criminal use of their property.
Large profit incentive: 100% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement.
The letter grade reflects the state's forfeiture laws as of December 2020. When we become aware of relevant reforms, we are updating the standard of proof, innocent owner burden and financial incentive language above, but we are not updating the letter grade.
Recent Reforms
- (2017) HB 2477: Raised standard of proof; imposed new limits on participation in federal equitable sharing; strengthened transparency requirements by adopting IJ’s model reporting legislation; created right to attorney fees for owners and repealed the state’s unique “reverse” attorney fee provision, which forced owners to pay 100% of the government’s attorney fees if the government prevailed on as little as 1% of its case; mandated outside approvals for expenditures of forfeiture proceeds.
- (2021) HB 2810: In addition to changes noted above, adopted new transparency requirements; banned roadside waivers used to pressure motorists into abandoning seized property; established prompt post-seizure hearings; eliminated non-judicial “uncontested forfeitures.” Read more.
Recommendations
- End civil forfeiture
- Direct all forfeiture proceeds to a non-law enforcement fund
- Fully close the equitable sharing loophole
State and Federal Forfeiture Revenues, 2000-2019
Between 2000 and 2019, Arizona law enforcement agencies forfeited more than $530 million under state law and generated an additional $113 million from federal equitable sharing, for a total of at least $643 million in forfeiture revenue—averaging more than $32 million a year. Arizona ranks 23rd for its participation in the Department of Justice’s equitable sharing program. However, in 2017, the state prohibited federal forfeiture of locally seized property worth less than $75,000 for equitable sharing.
At least $643 million in forfeiture revenue
2000–2019
| Year | Arizona Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
$0 ↦
$64,358,613
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $9,367,318 | $1,943,015 | $1,090,000 | $12,400,333 | |
| 2001 | $9,649,223 | $3,639,423 | $1,160,000 | $14,448,646 | |
| 2002 | $11,362,721 | $2,226,222 | $59,000 | $13,647,943 | |
| 2003 | $12,414,334 | $2,223,797 | $2,672,000 | $17,310,131 | |
| 2004 | $13,807,823 | $2,161,873 | $2,621,000 | $18,590,696 | |
| 2005 | $21,989,987 | $2,021,896 | $6,259,000 | $30,270,883 | |
| 2006 | $20,606,950 | $8,930,498 | $326,000 | $29,863,448 | |
| 2007 | $45,345,605 | $6,763,897 | $613,000 | $52,722,502 | |
| 2008 | $19,836,896 | $6,001,689 | $2,991,000 | $28,829,585 | |
| 2009 | $27,491,830 | $4,102,987 | $1,004,000 | $32,598,817 | |
| 2010 | $55,904,231 | $8,156,382 | $298,000 | $64,358,613 | |
| 2011 | $42,683,282 | $10,752,998 | $667,000 | $54,103,280 | |
| 2012 | $43,035,740 | $4,121,802 | $2,454,000 | $49,611,542 | |
| 2013 | $41,791,870 | $5,403,803 | $1,017,000 | $48,212,673 | |
| 2014 | $36,281,210 | $3,360,894 | $1,163,000 | $40,805,104 | |
| 2015 | $37,583,124 | $3,636,810 | $1,838,000 | $43,057,934 | |
| 2016 | $20,383,757 | $1,855,317 | $1,332,000 | $23,571,074 | |
| 2017 | $22,013,701 | $1,168,904 | $240,000 | $23,422,605 | |
| 2018 | $14,762,916 | $3,638,606 | $622,000 | $19,023,522 | |
| 2019 | $23,936,669 | $2,142,819 | $698,000 | $26,777,488 | |
| Totals | $530,249,187 | $84,253,632 | $29,124,000 | $643,626,819 |
State
Department of Justice
Treasury
|
Forfeitures Under Arizona Law: Key Facts
Median Value
$1,000From 2018 to 2019, half of Arizona’s currency forfeitures were worth less than $1,000.
Property Types
From 2018 to 2019, nearly half of Arizona’s forfeitures were of currency.
Civil vs. Criminal
From 2018 to 2019, at least 93% of forfeited properties were processed under civil, not criminal, forfeiture laws.
Expenditures
From 2018 to 2019, Arizona law enforcement spent $42 million from forfeiture funds—more than a third on personnel, including salaries and overtime.
Data Notes
Records were obtained from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission website and via public records request to ACJC. Figures for fiscal years 2000 through 2019 represent the total county-level value of forfeited cash and property sold. Data from 2018 and 2019 also include other forfeitures, including the value of retained and destroyed forfeited property. Equitable sharing data are from DOJ’s and Treasury’s annual forfeiture reports. Due to differences in reporting and accounting practices, state figures may not match aggregate numbers produced by the state or cover the same 12-month period as the federal data.
Legal Sources
Standard of proof: Clear and convincing evidence.
Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-4311(M), -4312(H)(5)(a).
Innocent owner burden: Owner.
Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-4304(4)–(5), -4311(M), -4312(H)(5)(b).
Financial incentive: 100%.
Ariz. Rev. Stat. §§ 13-2314.01(D), -.03(D), 13-4315.