Virginia 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 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. Once the conviction provision is satisfied, property must be linked to the crime by clear and convincing 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 (90% to the seizing agencies and 10% to the Department of Criminal Justice Services).
The letter grade reflects Virginia’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 Virginia?
Under Virginia law, prosecutors’ and owners’ deadlines leading to a judicial hearing add up to 485 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 you can try to get it back while the case continues by posting a bond equal to the property’s fair cash value.
*You have 21 days from the entry of a forfeiture judgment to file a remission petition with the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
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 $436 million in state and federal forfeiture revenue
| Year | Virginia Forfeiture Revenues | Dept. of Justice Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Treasury Equitable Sharing Proceeds | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | $524 | $4,147,130 | $1,203,000 | $5,350,654 |
| 2001 | $2,873 | $2,639,465 | $1,731,000 | $4,373,338 |
| 2002 | $995 | $2,638,756 | $523,000 | $3,162,751 |
| 2003 | $1,712 | $2,928,349 | $1,084,000 | $4,014,061 |
| 2004 | $7,899 | $4,268,111 | $434,000 | $4,710,010 |
| 2005 | $2,550 | $4,069,024 | $3,877,000 | $7,948,574 |
| 2006 | $40,334 | $4,948,114 | $2,954,000 | $7,942,448 |
| 2007 | $18,538 | $29,647,752 | $1,880,000 | $31,546,290 |
| 2008 | $132,995 | $26,673,908 | $10,827,000 | $37,633,903 |
| 2009 | $111,660 | $7,067,360 | $1,794,000 | $8,973,020 |
| 2010 | $2,274,946 | $5,701,332 | $1,386,000 | $9,362,278 |
| 2011 | $4,286,739 | $6,331,350 | $994,000 | $11,612,089 |
| 2012 | $5,220,238 | $7,326,146 | $628,000 | $13,174,384 |
| 2013 | $3,406,260 | $4,382,422 | $45,838,000 | $53,626,682 |
| 2014 | $1,250,508 | $6,641,267 | $61,423,000 | $69,314,775 |
| 2015 | $362,106 | $6,220,610 | $6,554,000 | $13,136,716 |
| 2016 | $5,200,413 | $6,721,850 | $1,558,000 | $13,480,263 |
| 2017 | $5,424,209 | $3,093,166 | $7,061,000 | $15,578,375 |
| 2018 | $5,767,414 | $4,274,757 | $306,000 | $10,348,171 |
| 2019 | $5,769,820 | $3,981,830 | $75,000 | $9,826,650 |
| 2020 | $5,786,040 | $7,777,795 | $836,000 | $14,399,835 |
| 2021 | $6,008,999 | $2,307,289 | $142,000 | $8,458,288 |
| 2022 | $6,335,160 | $2,030,429 | $1,734,000 | $10,099,589 |
| 2023 | $4,983,612 | $62,631,795 | $1,068,000 | $68,683,407 |
| Totals | $62,396,544 | $218,450,007 | $155,910,000 | $436,756,551 |
All revenue figures include both civil and criminal forfeitures. Revenues are not adjusted for inflation.
Federal Equitable Sharing
Virginia does not prevent state and local law enforcement agencies from using the federal equitable sharing program to circumvent state forfeiture law. Since 2000, Virginia agencies have generated more than $374 million in equitable sharing proceeds from the departments of Justice and the Treasury. And on average from 2019 to 2023, more than 188 Virginia agencies, or an estimated 58% of all law enforcement agencies in the state, were certified for the program.
Forfeitures Under Virginia Law: Key Facts
Median Value
UNKNOWN
Virginia does not require reporting on forfeitures worth less than $500. Therefore, median currency forfeiture cannot be calculated.
Property Types
From 2019 to 2023, more than 80% of Virginia’s forfeitures were of currency.
Median Time to Return
9 months
From 2019 to 2023, when owners got their property back in Virginia, it typically took about nine months, though a quarter of returns took at least 16 months.
Outcome by Property Type
From 2019 to 2023, when owners got their property back in Virginia, it typically took about nine months, though a quarter of returns took at least 16 months.
Forfeiture Transparency and Accountability Report Card
Tracking Seized Property
B-Statewide Forfeiture Reports
APenalties for Failure to File a Report
F*Accounting for Forfeiture Fund Spending
CAccessibility of Forfeiture Records
BFinancial Audits of Forfeiture Accounts
C*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 2020–2023 were obtained via public records requests to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. Data for earlier years were obtained from the DCJS via public records requests and download from its website. Revenues for 2020–2023 represent the value of forfeited currency and property disposed of in a fiscal year. Agencies are not required to report forfeitures worth less than $500. Additionally, revenues for 2023 may be incomplete due to reporting lag. Therefore, revenues for 2020–2023 are likely underestimates. Revenues for 2016–2019 represent forfeiture proceeds received in a fiscal year, while those for earlier years are conservative estimates of forfeiture proceeds and are based on the fiscal year in which assets were reported seized or forfeited. 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 and does not apply if the owner fails to contest forfeiture. After the conviction provision is satisfied, property must be linked to the crime by clear and convincing evidence.
Va. Code Ann. §§ 19.2-386.1(C), .10(A).
Innocent owner burden: Owner.
Va. Code Ann. §§ 19.2-386.8(3), .10(A).
Financial incentive: 100% (90% to participating agencies, 10% to the Department of Criminal Justice Services).
Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-386.14(A1)–(B).
Process: Va. Code Ann. §§ 19.2-386.1 et seq. (forfeiture procedure); Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-275.1 (service of complaint).