YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
February 28, 2003
Report No. 2003-19
As required by state law we
compiled the 2002 Criminal Activity Forfeiture Act (CAFA) seizure reports
submitted to the State Auditor by prosecuting attorneys and the Attorney
General. This compilation was
limited to the presentation of information submitted.
The State Auditor received a total of 110 (95%) of the
116 CAFA seizure reports, 97 of which were received prior to the January 31,
2003 deadline, from prosecuting attorneys and the Attorney General for property
seized in calendar year 2002 as required by section 513.607, RSMo. Supp. 2002.
The implementation of Senate Bill 5 and 21 effective in 2001
significantly increased the compliance percentage of CAFA seizure reports
submitted. Prior to that
legislation, CAFA seizure reports were submitted only to the Department of
Public Safety and there was no penalty provision for failure to comply with the
reporting requirements.
After receiving information from jurisdictions across
the state, there is reason for some concern.
Even though more jurisdictions actually filed reports with the State
Auditor, some failed to report how they disposed of their seized property.
A comparison of 2002 to 2001 report filings show the
number of reported seizures increased by 2% and the dollar value of seizures
reported increased by 40%. While it
appears a slight decrease in the percentage of forfeitures remitted to the state
occurred; a significant increase occurred in the percentage of forfeitures
transferred to a federal agency.
To accomplish our objectives, we compiled all seizure information submitted to the State
Auditor for calendar year 2002 and reviewed the compiled information previously
submitted for calendar year 2001 so that a comparison would be available.
A letter dated December 31, 2002 was mailed to
prosecuting attorneys and the Attorney General, notifying them of the deadline
for submission of the CAFA seizure and forfeiture reports.
This letter listed the information that should be included in their
report according to Section 513.607 RSMo. Supp. 2002, and that the report should
be submitted to both the State Auditor and to the Director of the Department of
Public Safety. The letter also indicated that if there were no seizures, a
report was still needed indicating that information.
Due to the February 28, 2003 statutory deadline to submit this report, only seizure reports received by February 25, 2003 are included in the compilation.