New Jersey earns a D- 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 to contested forfeitures of cash worth less than $1,000 or other property worth less than $10,000, putting the burden on owners to engage in a costly legal battle to win back low-value property. On the other hand, it precludes forfeiture when criminal charges related to the property seizure are never filed against a person (not necessarily the owner) or prosecutors fail to establish the person’s criminal culpability. Once the conviction provision is satisfied, property must be linked to the crime by preponderance of the evidence.
Innocent Owner Burden
Poor protections for the innocent: Third-party owners must prove their own innocence to recover seized property.
Financial Incentive
Large profit incentive: 100% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement when forfeiture is pursued by local agencies; 95% when forfeiture is pursued by the attorney general.
The letter grade reflects New Jersey’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 New Jersey?
Under New Jersey law, prosecutors’ and owners’ deadlines leading to a judicial hearing add up to 245 days, but there is no deadline for the hearing itself and any criminal proceedings may add to the wait. While you wait, the government has your property, but if you are not the defendant, you can try to get it back while the case continues by posting a bond equal to the property’s fair market value.
*Neither a conviction nor criminal charges are required if the property is worth more than $10,000 or is currency exceeding $1,000.
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 $427 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
| Year | New Jersey Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Unknown | $4,809,223 | $5,717,000 | $10,526,223 |
| 2001 | Unknown | $3,211,799 | $1,830,000 | $5,041,799 |
| 2002 | Unknown | $755,923 | $172,000 | $927,923 |
| 2003 | Unknown | $1,158,130 | $2,161,000 | $3,319,130 |
| 2004 | Unknown | $2,757,000 | $2,757,000 | $5,514,000 |
| 2005 | Unknown | $3,422,390 | $3,021,000 | $6,443,390 |
| 2006 | Unknown | $2,548,731 | $2,453,000 | $5,001,731 |
| 2007 | Unknown | $5,699,340 | $997,000 | $6,696,340 |
| 2008 | Unknown | $5,969,112 | $2,371,000 | $8,340,112 |
| 2009 | $24,851,916 | $8,457,668 | $1,822,000 | $35,131,584 |
| 2010 | $15,542,095 | $5,884,673 | $7,893,000 | $29,319,768 |
| 2011 | $14,339,481 | $7,845,680 | $5,924,000 | $28,109,161 |
| 2012 | $20,719,371 | $8,680,714 | $3,843,000 | $33,243,085 |
| 2013 | $16,508,255 | $9,755,408 | $3,187,000 | $29,450,663 |
| 2014 | $15,815,834 | $12,258,703 | $5,941,000 | $34,015,537 |
| 2015 | $8,846,015 | $6,326,020 | $2,955,000 | $18,127,035 |
| 2016 | $12,439,008 | $5,716,987 | $673,000 | $18,828,995 |
| 2017 | $17,086,431 | $8,214,514 | $2,019,000 | $27,319,945 |
| 2018 | $14,538,243 | $10,839,580 | $929,000 | $26,306,823 |
| 2019 | $5,592,560 | $10,720,234 | $1,634,000 | $17,946,794 |
| 2020 | Unknown | $6,118,585 | $1,025,000 | $7,143,585 |
| 2021 | Unknown | $15,497,233 | $718,000 | $16,215,233 |
| 2022 | $8,461,982 | $9,672,133 | $676,000 | $18,810,115 |
| 2023 | $16,556,840 | $18,667,125 | $856,000 | $36,079,965 |
| Totals | $191,298,031 | $174,986,905 | $61,574,000 | $427,858,936 |
All revenue figures include both civil and criminal forfeitures. Revenues are not adjusted for inflation.
Federal Equitable Sharing
New Jersey does not prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from using the federal equitable sharing program to circumvent state forfeiture law. Since 2000, New Jersey agencies have generated nearly $237 million in equitable sharing proceeds from the departments of Justice and the Treasury. And on average from 2019 to 2023, more than 201 New Jersey agencies, or an estimated 41% of all law enforcement agencies in the state, were certified for the program.
Forfeitures Under New Jersey Law: Key Facts
Median Value
$635
From April 2022 through 2023, half of New Jersey’s currency forfeitures were worth less than $635.
Property Types
From April 2022 through 2023, more than 85% of New Jersey’s forfeitures were of currency.
Proceeding Types
UNKNOWN
New Jersey proceeding type data were not used for this report due to a high proportion of unknowns.
Claims
From April 2022 though 2023, only 6% of New Jersey’s forfeitures were contested via a claim.
Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
Tracking Seized Property
AStatewide Forfeiture Reports
APenalties for Failure to File a Report
B*Accounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending
CAccessibility of Forfeiture Records
AFinancial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts
A*Agencies must file even when they have nothing to report.
For full transparency and accountability grades, visit ij.org/TransparencyReportCards.
Data Notes
Statewide, property-level forfeiture data for 2022–2023 were downloaded from the New Jersey Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Dashboard. Data for earlier years were obtained from the state attorney general’s website via download and from county prosecutors via public records requests. No data are available for 2020 or 2021. All figures are in calendar years. Revenues represent the value of currency and property forfeited in a year. Because values of non-currency property are not consistently reported for 2022–2023, revenues are underestimates. Also, for 2022, data are available only for property forfeited between April and December. 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: Weak conviction provision precludes forfeiture when criminal charges “related to the property seizure” are never filed against a person (not necessarily an owner) or prosecutors fail to establish “criminal culpability” of any person. The provision applies only to contested forfeitures of low-value property ($1,000 or less for cash and $10,000 or less for other property). After the conviction provision is satisfied, property must be linked to the crime by a preponderance of the evidence.
N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:64-3(e), (k)(1)–(2); State v. $7,000, 642 A.2d 967, 975 (N.J. 1994); State v. $2,293 in U.S. Currency, 95 A.3d 260, 266 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2014).
Innocent owner burden: Owner.
N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:64-5(b); State v. $7,000, 642 A.2d 967, 974 (N.J. 1994).
Financial incentive: 100% when forfeiture is pursued by local law enforcement; 95% when forfeiture is pursued by the attorney general.
N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:64-6(a), (c).
Process: N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:64-3 (forfeiture procedure); N.J. Ct. R. 1:13-7 (service of complaint), 4:6-1 (time to answer).