California earns a C for its civil forfeiture laws
Standard of Proof
Higher bar to forfeit in limited cases: Weak conviction provision falls short of criminal forfeiture. It applies only if an owner contests forfeiture, putting the burden on owners to engage in a costly legal battle and making it easy for the government to forfeit without a conviction. It does not require conviction of the owner, only of “a defendant,” and does not apply to cash over $40,000. Once there is a conviction, property must be linked to the crime beyond a reasonable doubt. The standard for cash over $40,000 is clear and convincing evidence if contested. For uncontested forfeitures, the government need only present a “prima facie case” that property is subject to forfeiture—a very low standard akin to probable cause.
Innocent Owner Burden
Stronger protections for the innocent: The government must prove third-party owners knew about criminal activity connected to their property.
Financial Incentive
Large profit incentive: 76% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement (65% to police, 10% to prosecutors, and 1% to a fund controlled by the prosecutors’ trade association).
The letter grade reflects California’s forfeiture laws as of May 7, 2025. 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.
Note: Prosecutors need only meet their standard of proof—and owners can only prove their innocence—if owners make it to a judicial hearing. See flow chart.
Recent Reforms
Recommendations
What happens after personal property is seized in California?*
Under California law, the government’s and owners’ deadlines leading to a judicial hearing add up to 50 days, but the wait may be longer as there is no deadline for the hearing itself. While you wait, the government has your property, but you can try to get it back while the case continues by petitioning the court.
*For property worth $25,000 or less, prosecutors can pursue either judicial or administrative forfeiture. Here, we describe the administrative forfeiture process.
**Innocent owners can file a motion seeking the property’s return. Defendants in any related criminal proceeding can ask the court to return the property based on a lack of probable cause for the forfeiture.
***For vehicles, criminal proceedings may delay a civil forfeiture hearing as a conviction is required if a claim is made.
For research methods and limitations, see “How We Documented Civil Forfeiture Processes From Seizure to Hearing.”
State and Federal Forfeiture Proceeds, 2000–2023
At least $2 billion in state and federal forfeiture revenue
| Year | California Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Unknown | $29,532,158 | $17,368,000 | $46,900,158 |
| 2001 | Unknown | $32,530,454 | $6,818,000 | $39,348,454 |
| 2002 | $25,565,686 | $26,435,779 | $4,573,000 | $56,574,465 |
| 2003 | $26,589,893 | $24,259,920 | $2,224,000 | $53,073,813 |
| 2004 | $22,459,346 | $30,972,798 | $2,247,000 | $55,679,144 |
| 2005 | $19,866,810 | $26,389,562 | $4,846,000 | $51,102,372 |
| 2006 | $25,582,483 | $41,901,452 | $1,080,000 | $68,563,935 |
| 2007 | $27,603,822 | $42,226,537 | $5,817,000 | $75,647,359 |
| 2008 | $25,548,228 | $51,699,292 | $9,482,000 | $86,729,520 |
| 2009 | $28,789,945 | $59,308,447 | $3,440,000 | $91,538,392 |
| 2010 | $16,490,185 | $75,504,012 | $9,660,000 | $101,654,197 |
| 2011 | $17,958,201 | $78,895,461 | $10,561,000 | $107,414,662 |
| 2012 | $15,046,570 | $82,987,480 | $17,264,000 | $115,298,050 |
| 2013 | $28,130,455 | $85,544,380 | $12,347,000 | $126,021,835 |
| 2014 | $29,148,436 | $77,400,978 | $12,216,000 | $118,765,414 |
| 2015 | $29,171,690 | $86,111,035 | $13,848,000 | $129,130,725 |
| 2016 | $37,915,514 | $77,612,180 | $10,915,000 | $126,442,694 |
| 2017 | $33,699,286 | $48,670,360 | $8,295,000 | $90,664,646 |
| 2018 | $30,438,026 | $55,219,133 | $53,366,000 | $139,023,159 |
| 2019 | $33,789,157 | $41,295,148 | $10,023,000 | $85,107,305 |
| 2020 | $34,669,275 | $40,471,586 | $5,171,000 | $80,311,861 |
| 2021 | $31,093,421 | $13,012,984 | $7,790,000 | $51,896,405 |
| 2022 | $32,769,141 | $27,353,877 | $10,453,000 | $70,576,018 |
| 2023 | $43,380,970 | $55,932,470 | $12,359,000 | $111,672,440 |
| Totals | $615,706,540 | $1,211,267,483 | $252,163,000 | $2,079,137,023 |
All revenue figures include both civil and criminal forfeitures. Revenues are not adjusted for inflation.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Since January 2017, California has prohibited equitable sharing of all tangible property and cash of $40,000 or less under drug laws unless there is an associated criminal conviction or the defendant is charged and fails to appear in court. IJ’s analysis (see https://ij.org/report/policing-for-profit-4/equitable-sharing/evaluating-efforts-to-reform-equitable-sharing/) found that, relative to non-reform states, the reform resulted in immediate reductions in the sharing of below-threshold assets and assets overall, as well as a long-term reduction in sharing overall. However, there was no effect on the sharing of below-threshold assets in the long run. From 2018 to 2023, California law enforcement agencies generated more than $332 million in equitable sharing proceeds. And on average from 2019 to 2023, 288 California agencies, or an estimated 56% of all law enforcement agencies in the state, were certified for the program.
Forfeitures Under California Law: Key Facts
Median Value
UNKNOWN
California does not report information necessary to calculate median forfeiture value.
Property Types
UNKNOWN
California does not report the types of property forfeited.
Proceeding Types
UNKNOWN
California does not report whether forfeitures are processed under civil or criminal forfeiture law.
Convictions
From 2019 to 2023, only half of California’s forfeitures were accompanied by a criminal conviction, likely owing to the state’s weak conviction provision.
Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
Tracking Seized Property
DStatewide Forfeiture Reports
BPenalties for Failure to File a Report
DAccounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending
FAccessibility of Forfeiture Records
BFinancial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts
CFor full transparency and accountability grades, visit ij.org/TransparencyReportCards.
Data Notes
Agency forfeiture reports for 2019–2023 were obtained via public records requests to the state attorney general. Revenues represent the value of property forfeited in a calendar year. Because not all agencies submitted reports to the AG, revenues are likely underestimated. Revenues for earlier years are from statewide reports downloaded from the AG’s website and represent net forfeiture revenues in a calendar year. Equitable sharing data are from DOJ’s and Treasury’s annual forfeiture reports. Due to differences in reporting and accounting practices, figures may not match aggregate numbers produced by the state or cover the same 12-month period as the federal data. See Appendix C, available online at ij.org/report/policing-for-profit-4/appendix-c-equitable-sharing-methods/, for details of the equitable sharing reform analysis. The number of certified agencies was computed using the approved Equitable Sharing Agreement and Certification requests submitted by police, sheriff, and other local law enforcement agencies. The percentage of certified agencies was computed using that number and the total number of agencies reported in the 2018 Census of State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies.
Legal Sources
Standard of proof: Weak conviction provision does not require conviction of an owner, but only of “a defendant”—and only for forfeitures of cash and cash equivalents less than $40,000, vehicles, and real property and only when a claim is filed. After the conviction provision is satisfied, property must be linked to the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
For contested forfeitures of cash over $40,000, the standard is clear and convincing evidence. In uncontested forfeitures, the government need only make a “prima facie case”—a very low standard akin to probable cause—that the property is subject to forfeiture.
Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 11488.4(i)(1)–(4), .5(b)(1); see also People v. $9,632.50 in U.S. Currency, 75 Cal. Rptr. 2d 125, 128 n.4 (Ct. App. 1998) (saying the standard of proof “in this case” for cash worth less than $25,000 is beyond a reasonable doubt).
Innocent owner burden: Government.
Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11488.5(d).
Financial incentive: 76% (65% to police, 10% to prosecutors, 1% to a fund controlled by prosecutors).
Cal. Health & Safety Code § 11489(b)(2).
Process: Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 11469 et seq. (forfeiture procedure); Cal. R. Ct. 3.110(b) (service of complaint).