Oklahoma
Policing for Profit
Oklahoma earns a D- for its civil forfeiture laws.
Low bar to forfeit: Prosecutors must prove by preponderance of the evidence 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
- None.
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
- Adopt strong transparency and accountability requirements
State and Federal Forfeiture Revenues, 2000-2019
Between 2000 and 2018, Oklahoma law enforcement agencies forfeited nearly $124 million under state law. Between 2000 and 2019, they generated an additional $74 million from federal equitable sharing, for a total of at least $198 million in forfeiture revenue. Oklahoma ranks 14th 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 $198 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
2000–2019
| Year | Oklahoma Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
$0 ↦
$15,165,643
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $4,455,877 | $1,384,903 | $0 | $5,840,780 | |
| 2001 | $5,095,149 | $729,415 | $0 | $5,824,564 | |
| 2002 | $5,034,098 | $5,754,965 | $8,000 | $10,797,063 | |
| 2003 | $8,357,122 | $6,418,639 | $6,000 | $14,781,761 | |
| 2004 | $9,039,476 | $5,630,156 | $13,000 | $14,682,632 | |
| 2005 | $7,864,793 | $7,158,850 | $142,000 | $15,165,643 | |
| 2006 | $7,886,299 | $6,569,517 | $21,000 | $14,476,816 | |
| 2007 | $8,054,586 | $6,189,501 | $5,000 | $14,249,087 | |
| 2008 | $7,906,582 | $2,579,483 | $63,000 | $10,549,065 | |
| 2009 | $5,575,368 | $5,173,845 | $249,000 | $10,998,213 | |
| 2010 | $6,964,132 | $2,679,518 | $114,000 | $9,757,650 | |
| 2011 | $6,247,284 | $4,185,955 | $739,000 | $11,172,239 | |
| 2012 | $4,310,089 | $2,649,990 | $1,000,000 | $7,960,079 | |
| 2013 | $6,580,718 | $2,361,790 | $155,000 | $9,097,508 | |
| 2014 | $5,710,484 | $2,305,791 | $774,000 | $8,790,275 | |
| 2015 | $4,680,244 | $1,163,078 | $473,000 | $6,316,322 | |
| 2016 | $5,312,756 | $2,046,368 | $68,000 | $7,427,124 | |
| 2017 | $7,746,556 | $787,187 | $1,434,000 | $9,967,743 | |
| 2018 | $7,139,947 | $1,481,230 | $363,000 | $8,984,177 | |
| 2019 | Unavailable | $1,820,964 | $164,000 | $1,984,964 | |
| Totals | $123,961,560 | $69,071,145 | $5,791,000 | $198,823,705 |
State
Department of Justice
Treasury
|
Oklahoma Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
| D+ | Tracking Seized Property |
|---|---|
| F | Accounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending |
| F | Statewide Forfeiture Reports |
| D | Accessibility of Forfeiture Records |
|---|---|
| Incomplete | Penalties for Failure to File a Report |
| F | Financial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts |
For full transparency and accountability grades, visit www.ij.org/TransparencyReportCards.
Forfeitures Under Oklahoma Law: Key Facts
Median Value
UnknownOklahoma does not report property-level data necessary to calculate median forfeiture value.
Property Types
UnknownOklahoma does not report the types of property forfeited.
Civil vs. Criminal
UnknownOklahoma does not report whether forfeitures are processed under civil or criminal forfeiture law.
Expenditures
From 2005 to 2018, Oklahoma district attorneys spent nearly $91 million from forfeiture funds—half on other expenses, mostly interagency transfers.
Data Notes
Data were obtained via public records requests to the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council. Fiscal-year proceeds include cash forfeitures and sold property. All Oklahoma forfeiture proceeds go to DA-managed funds; DAs then transfer seizing agencies their cut. Expenditure figures reported here represent only DAs’ expenditures, including those transfers. The data do not indicate how recipient agencies spent those transfers. 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: Preponderance of the evidence.
Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 2-503(B)–(C).
Innocent owner burden: Owner.
Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 2-503(A)(4)(b), (A)(7); State ex rel. Campbell v. Eighteen Thousand Two Hundred Thirty–Five Dollars, 184 P.3d 1078, 1081 (Okla. 2008).
Financial incentive: Up to 100%
Okla. Stat. tit. 63, §§ 2-503(F)(2), -506(L), -508.