Oregon 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 person.” Once the conviction provision is satisfied, personal property must be linked to the crime by preponderance of the evidence; real property by clear and convincing evidence.
Innocent Owner Burden
Stronger protections for the innocent: Generally, the government must prove third-party owners knew about criminal activity connected to their property, but if cash, weapons, or negotiable instruments were found near drugs, the owner bears the burden.
Financial Incentive
Large profit incentive: 52.5% of forfeiture proceeds go to law enforcement when forfeiture is pursued by local agencies; 47% when forfeiture is pursued by the state.
The letter grade reflects Oregon’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 Oregon?
Under Oregon law, the government’s and owners’ deadlines leading to a judicial hearing add up to 81 days, but there are no deadlines for serving the complaint or for the hearing itself and any criminal proceedings may add to the wait. While you wait, the government has your property, but if you act quickly, you can try to get it back by requesting a probable cause hearing or a preliminary hearing.
*If prosecutors know you are a potential innocent owner claimant, they must file a complaint within 30 days of the seizure and you do not need to file a claim.
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 $90 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
| Year | Oregon Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $1,642,449 | $830,027 | $607,000 | $3,079,476 |
| 2001 | $1,935,800 | $655,252 | $46,000 | $2,637,052 |
| 2002 | $191,083 | $3,557 | $826,000 | $1,020,640 |
| 2003 | $725,740 | $644,153 | $1,322,000 | $2,691,893 |
| 2004 | $1,021,077 | $477,160 | $449,000 | $1,947,237 |
| 2005 | Unknown | $668,926 | $920,000 | $1,588,926 |
| 2006 | Unknown | $564,374 | $528,000 | $1,092,374 |
| 2007 | Unknown | $1,881,774 | $727,000 | $2,608,774 |
| 2008 | Unknown | $1,024,763 | $896,000 | $1,920,763 |
| 2009 | Unknown | $1,551,431 | $1,486,000 | $3,037,431 |
| 2010 | $1,996,498 | $1,724,575 | $974,000 | $4,695,073 |
| 2011 | $2,128,528 | $2,155,667 | $656,000 | $4,940,195 |
| 2012 | $1,573,074 | $1,621,348 | $730,000 | $3,924,422 |
| 2013 | $1,937,907 | $1,961,146 | $436,000 | $4,335,053 |
| 2014 | $1,224,379 | $1,699,945 | $1,156,000 | $4,080,324 |
| 2015 | $1,442,571 | $2,472,642 | $1,462,000 | $5,377,213 |
| 2016 | $534,987 | $1,627,632 | $842,000 | $3,004,619 |
| 2017 | $854,965 | $1,097,933 | $697,000 | $2,649,898 |
| 2018 | $1,220,124 | $1,762,479 | $294,000 | $3,276,603 |
| 2019 | $1,118,199 | $1,565,833 | $1,046,000 | $3,730,032 |
| 2020 | $1,048,431 | $2,476,018 | $3,651,000 | $7,175,449 |
| 2021 | $1,132,104 | $2,179,745 | $1,283,000 | $4,594,849 |
| 2022 | $1,455,521 | $2,805,547 | $4,837,000 | $9,098,068 |
| 2023 | $1,230,708 | $4,992,792 | $1,941,000 | $8,164,500 |
| Totals | $24,414,145 | $38,444,719 | $27,812,000 | $90,670,864 |
All revenue figures include both civil and criminal forfeitures. Revenues are not adjusted for inflation.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Oregon does not prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from using the federal equitable sharing program to circumvent state forfeiture law. Since 2000, Oregon agencies have generated more than $66 million in equitable sharing proceeds from the departments of Justice and the Treasury. And on average from 2019 to 2023, more than 48 Oregon agencies, or an estimated 31% of all law enforcement agencies in the state, were certified for the program.
Forfeitures Under Oregon Law: Key Facts
Median Value
$2,008
From 2019 to 2023, half of Oregon’s currency forfeitures were worth less than $2,008.
Property Values
From 2019 to 2023, nearly 80% of Oregon’s forfeitures were of currency.
Proceeding Types
From 2019 to 2023, 83% of Oregon’s forfeitures were processed under civil, not criminal, forfeiture laws.
Claims
From 2019 to 2023, only 10% of forfeitures were contested via a claim. And vehicle forfeitures were about four times as likely to be contested as currency forfeitures.
Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
Tracking Seized Property
BStatewide Forfeiture Reports
APenalties for Failure to File a Report
FAccounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending
AAccessibility of Forfeiture Records
BFinancial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts
FFor full transparency and accountability grades, visit ij.org/TransparencyReportCards.
Data Notes
Statewide forfeiture records with property-level data were obtained via public records requests to the state Criminal Justice Commission. All figures are in calendar years. Revenues for 2010–2023 represent the value of forfeited currency and property sold or retained in a year. Revenues for earlier years do not include property retained. The CJC reportedly lacked funds to produce reports for 2005–2009. 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 does not require conviction of an owner, but only of “a person.” The provision applies only when forfeiture is contested. After the conviction provision is satisfied, personal property must be linked to the crime by a preponderance of the evidence, and real property by clear and convincing evidence.
Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 131A.255(1)–(3), .315.
Innocent owner burden: Government. The government bears the burden of proof except in cases where cash, weapons or negotiable instruments were found in close proximity to drugs, in which cases the owner bears the burden of showing by a preponderance of the evidence that the items are not the proceeds or instrumentalities of a drug crime.
Or. Rev. Stat. § 131A.255(2), (5).
Financial incentive: 52.5% when forfeiture is pursued by local law enforcement; 47% when forfeiture is pursued by the state.
Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 131A.360(1), (4), (6), .365(1), (3), (5).
Process: Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 131A.005 et seq. (forfeiture procedure); see Or. R. Civ. P. 5 (service of complaint), 7 (time to answer).