Institute for Justice
Colorado
March 2010
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Scott G. Bullock
President and General Counsel
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State Law Evasion Grade | Final Grade |
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Colorado
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Forfeiture Law |
| Colorado reformed its civil asset forfeiture laws in 2005, but room for improvement remains. For the government to forfeit your property now, it must have clear and convincing evidence that the property is related to criminal activity and thus subject to forfeiture. Thankfully, innocent owners are not required to prove their innocence in Colorado. Instead, the government bears the burden of showing that the owner participated in the alleged criminal activity. Law enforcement keeps 50 percent of all funds generated through civil forfeiture.Prior to the reforms passed in 2005, Colorado law enforcement could take property when it was merely more likely than not that it had been used in criminal activity, innocent owners had to prove their own innocence and law enforcement reaped 100 percent of the forfeiture windfall. While there remains work to be done, the reforms have clearly improved the forfeiture landscape in Colorado. |
| Forfeitures as Reported to LEMAS (Drug-related only) |
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| Equitable Sharing Proceeds from the Assets Forfeiture Fund (AFF) |
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| Freedom of Information Data |
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Reports of forfeitures from some judicial districts, some police departments, and some sheriff’s departments
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