Arizona’s civil asset forfeiture laws are safe from any legislative changes this year, Arizona Capitol Times reports.
Sen. Sylvia Allen, R-Snowflake, said a strike-all bill to form a study group on asset forfeiture is likely doomed in the Senate, but the push to look at reforms is not.
The proposed study committee wasn’t the only bill this session pertaining to civil asset forfeiture.
A House bill that would have made several changes to the laws, including more transparency on how police and prosecutors spend money they seize from criminal proceeds, never got a hearing.
Allen said study committees are tough to pass in the Senate because they require a lot of work to put together. But she said there are other ways to study an issue such as working groups or task forces, which don’t require legislation to be passed.
The Goldwater Institute recently took aim at the Pinal County Attorney’s Office and Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, asking for a wide array of records detailing the spending of RICO funds.
Goldwater is also particularly interested in a promotional flier sent by the sheriff’s office, which touts Sheriff Paul Babeu’s record on immigration, one of his talking points in his campaign for Congress, and contains a photo of him with former presidential candidate Ben Carson, Arizona Capitol Times reported.
