Massachusetts
Policing for Profit
Massachusetts earns an F for its civil forfeiture laws.
Lowest bar to forfeit: The government must only show probable cause that property is connected to a crime.
Poor protections for the innocent: Third-party owners must prove their own innocence to recover seized property.
Large profit incentive: Up to 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
- (2018) S. 2371: Strengthened transparency requirements.
Recommendations
- End civil forfeiture
- Direct all forfeiture proceeds to a non-law enforcement fund
- Strengthen protections for innocent third-party owners
- Close the equitable sharing loophole
- Strengthen transparency and accountability requirements
State and Federal Forfeiture Revenues, 2000-2019
Between 2000 and 2018, Massachusetts law enforcement agencies forfeited nearly $182 million under state law. Between 2000 and 2019, they generated an additional $145 million from federal equitable sharing, for a total of at least $327 million in forfeiture revenue. Massachusetts ranks 48th for its participation in the Department of Justice’s equitable sharing program. The state does not prevent state and local agencies from using equitable sharing to circumvent state forfeiture law.
At least $327 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
2000–2019
| Year | Massachusetts Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
$0 ↦
$36,762,740
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $5,614,705 | $2,849,444 | $55,000 | $8,519,149 | |
| 2001 | $7,322,901 | $2,416,212 | $603,000 | $10,342,113 | |
| 2002 | $7,300,236 | $2,614,071 | $234,000 | $10,148,307 | |
| 2003 | $7,592,214 | $2,012,439 | $850,000 | $10,454,653 | |
| 2004 | $10,092,662 | $4,354,656 | $1,223,000 | $15,670,318 | |
| 2005 | $8,803,347 | $4,563,453 | $663,000 | $14,029,800 | |
| 2006 | $8,384,547 | $2,527,410 | $241,000 | $11,152,957 | |
| 2007 | $9,264,064 | $3,921,974 | $814,000 | $14,000,038 | |
| 2008 | $11,080,483 | $5,249,599 | $1,166,000 | $17,496,082 | |
| 2009 | $13,212,877 | $2,710,133 | $832,000 | $16,755,010 | |
| 2010 | $11,333,307 | $2,375,152 | $3,059,000 | $16,767,459 | |
| 2011 | $10,440,564 | $13,737,792 | $981,000 | $25,159,356 | |
| 2012 | $9,707,228 | $10,772,062 | $882,000 | $21,361,290 | |
| 2013 | $10,226,543 | $4,237,214 | $1,193,000 | $15,656,757 | |
| 2014 | $9,911,783 | $7,719,173 | $2,721,000 | $20,351,956 | |
| 2015 | $10,685,869 | $6,209,584 | $2,016,000 | $18,911,453 | |
| 2016 | $10,756,495 | $11,199,115 | $938,000 | $22,893,610 | |
| 2017 | $8,031,978 | $4,610,382 | $2,023,000 | $14,665,360 | |
| 2018 | $12,040,200 | $24,381,540 | $341,000 | $36,762,740 | |
| 2019 | Unavailable | $4,985,364 | $1,002,000 | $5,987,364 | |
| Totals | $181,802,003 | $123,446,769 | $21,837,000 | $327,085,772 |
State
Department of Justice
Treasury
|
Massachusetts Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
| D | Tracking Seized Property |
|---|---|
| B | Accounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending |
| A | Statewide Forfeiture Reports |
| B | Accessibility of Forfeiture Records |
|---|---|
| F | Penalties for Failure to File a Report |
| F | Financial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts |
Forfeitures Under Massachusetts Law: Key Facts
Median Value
UnknownMassachusetts does not report property-level data necessary to calculate median forfeiture value.
Property Types
UnknownMassachusetts does not report the types of property forfeited
Civil vs. Criminal
UnknownMassachusetts does not report whether forfeitures are processed under civil or criminal forfeiture law.
Expenditures
In 2018, the Massachusetts Attorney General and district attorneys spent $3 million from forfeiture funds—53% on other expenses, mostly interagency transfers.
Data Notes
Forfeiture revenues were obtained from the Massachusetts Comptroller’s online spending dataset and via public records request to the Comptroller. Figures presented are calculated estimates of statewide forfeiture revenues based on fiscal-year deposits to the Massachusetts AG’s and each DA’s special forfeiture trust fund, which, by law, receive half of all forfeiture revenues. Expenditure records for calendar-year 2018 were obtained via public records requests to the AG and each DA and represent only expenses for those offices. 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: Probable cause.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 47(d); Commonwealth v. One 2004 Audi Sedan Auto., 921 N.E.2d 85, 88–90, 92 (Mass. 2010).
Innocent owner burden: Owner.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 47(d).
Financial incentive: Up to 100%.
Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 47(d).