YELLOW SHEET Office of the State Auditor of Missouri |
February 27, 2004
Report No. 2004-14
As required by state law the
State Auditor's Office compiled the 2003 Criminal Activity Forfeiture Act
(CAFA) seizure reports submitted to our office by prosecuting attorneys and the
Attorney General.� This compilation was
limited to the presentation of information submitted.
The State Auditor
received a total of 104 (90%) of the 116 CAFA seizure reports, from prosecuting attorneys and the
Attorney General for property seized in calendar year 2003 as required by
section 513.607, RSMo. Cum. Supp. 2003.�
Ninety-five (82%) of the reports were received prior to the January 31,
2004 deadline.� 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 the majority of jurisdictions actually filed reports with
the State Auditor, some failed to report how they disposed of their seized
property.
A comparison of 2003, 2002, and 2001 report filings show
the number and dollar value of reported seizures was greater in 2002.� This appears due to increases in seizures in
just a small number of counties in 2002.�
The result of this increased activity, appears to have had the most
impact on the dollar value of seizures transferred to a federal agency.
To accomplish our objectives,� we compiled all seizure information submitted
to the State Auditor for calendar year 2003 and reviewed the compiled
information previously submitted for the calendar years 2002 and� 2001 so that a comparison would be available.
A letter dated December 31, 2003 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. Cum. Supp.
2003, 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, 2004 statutory deadline to submit
this report, only seizure reports received by February 17, 2004 are included in
the compilation.