Maine earns a A for its civil forfeiture laws
Standard of Proof
Highest bar to forfeit: Maine has only criminal forfeiture.
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
No profit incentive, officially: All forfeiture proceeds are supposed to go to the general fund unless another transfer is specifically approved.
The letter grade reflects Maine’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 Maine?
*If you are a defendant and you fail to appear in court for the criminal proceeding, your property can be forfeited by default.
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 $29 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
| Year | Maine Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Unknown | $289,012 | Unknown | $289,012 |
| 2001 | Unknown | $249,073 | Unknown | $249,073 |
| 2002 | Unknown | $204,420 | Unknown | $204,420 |
| 2003 | Unknown | $396,817 | Unknown | $396,817 |
| 2004 | Unknown | $220,415 | Unknown | $220,415 |
| 2005 | Unknown | $521,857 | $41,000 | $562,857 |
| 2006 | Unknown | $350,624 | $70,000 | $420,624 |
| 2007 | Unknown | $1,025,788 | $658,000 | $1,683,788 |
| 2008 | Unknown | $345,699 | $49,000 | $394,699 |
| 2009 | $200,503 | $416,080 | $511,000 | $1,127,583 |
| 2010 | $276,353 | $316,730 | $1,605,000 | $2,198,083 |
| 2011 | $315,698 | $597,758 | $26,000 | $939,456 |
| 2012 | $192,235 | $624,719 | $47,000 | $863,954 |
| 2013 | $350,372 | $324,616 | $1,370,000 | $2,044,988 |
| 2014 | $169,610 | $683,131 | $35,000 | $887,741 |
| 2015 | $565,444 | $666,259 | $12,000 | $1,243,703 |
| 2016 | $320,626 | $154,008 | $213,000 | $687,634 |
| 2017 | $168,933 | $280,851 | $1,099,000 | $1,548,784 |
| 2018 | $225,012 | $284,904 | $48,000 | $557,916 |
| 2019 | $219,698 | $904,068 | $0 | $1,123,766 |
| 2020 | $389,203 | $476,845 | $6,000 | $872,048 |
| 2021 | $315,692 | $98,497 | $18,000 | $432,189 |
| 2022 | $339,477 | $2,562,462 | $196,000 | $3,097,939 |
| 2023 | $199,231 | $6,996,495 | $55,000 | $7,250,726 |
| Totals | $4,248,087 | $18,991,128 | $6,059,000 | $29,298,215 |
All revenue figures include both civil and criminal forfeitures. Revenues are not adjusted for inflation.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Since 2000, Maine agencies have generated more than $25 million in equitable sharing proceeds. And on average from 2019 to 2023, about 45 Maine agencies, or an estimated 33% of all law enforcement agencies in the state, were certified for the program. In October 2023, two years after enacting a minimum value threshold for sharing property with a federal agency, the state prohibited agencies from sharing property of any value unless the property is part of a federal criminal case. It is too soon to know whether the reform will have an effect.
Forfeitures Under Maine Law: Key Facts
Median Value
$1,931
From 2019 to 2023, half of Maine’s currency forfeitures were worth less than $1,931.
Property Types
UNKNOWN
Maine property type data were not used for this report.
Proceeding Types
N/A
Maine processes all forfeitures under criminal law.
Additional Findings
UNKNOWN
The only publicly available forfeiture information is incomplete and rife with reporting errors.
Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
Tracking Seized Property
D-Statewide Forfeiture Reports
FPenalties for Failure to File a Report
Incomplete ‡Accounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending
F †Accessibility of Forfeiture Records
AFinancial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts
F†Maine agencies that receive forfeiture funds under the law’s exceptions are not required to report how they spend them, nor does the state require audits of agency forfeiture funds.
‡No reporting requirements to enforce.
For full transparency and accountability grades, visit www.ij.org/TransparencyReportCards.
Data Notes
Property-level forfeiture records for 2020–2023 were obtained from the state Department of Public Safety’s website via download and from the state attorney general and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency via public records requests. Revenues were calculated using four incomplete and partially overlapping datasets and represent currency forfeited in a calendar year. While every effort was made to remove duplicate values, the limited information available across datasets may result in small amounts of double-counting. Nevertheless, revenues for 2020–2023 likely represent underestimates both because the datasets were incomplete and because non-currency property is not consistently valued and thus not included in our totals. Revenues for partial 2014–2019 represent currency forfeitures prosecuted by the AG in a calendar year and were obtained via public records requests to the AG. Revenues for earlier years represent currency forfeited by the MDEA and were obtained via public records requests to the DPS. Data for 2009–2019 do not cover all forfeitures statewide. 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. 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: Criminal forfeiture.
Me. Stat. tit. 15, § 5826.
Innocent owner burden: Government.
Me. Stat. tit. 15, §§ 5821(4)(A), (6)(A), (7)(A).
Financial incentive: No financial incentive. All forfeiture proceeds go to the general fund unless another transfer is specifically approved by the court and by the governor or attorney general (in the case of a state forfeiture), or by the court and the relevant governmental entity (in the case of county-level or municipal-level forfeitures) with the written consent of the attorney general.
Me. Stat. tit. 15, § 5824.
Process: Me. Stat. tit. 15, §§ 5821 et seq. (criminal forfeiture procedure).