A measure designed to tighten Colorado’s civil asset forfeiture rules cleared the state legislature with broad bipartisan backing and received the signature of Governor Jared Polis.
Earlier this month, Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis enacted legislation that tightens the guidelines for when authorities may seize cash and other property tied to suspected wrongdoing, and it also guarantees property owners the right to an attorney in forfeiture proceedings.
Colorado now possesses some of the nation’s strictest protections governing police use of civil asset forfeiture, a practice that typically allows authorities to confiscate assets believed to be connected to criminal activity, even if the owner isn’t charged with a crime. The state also becomes, once again, the second to ensure a right to legal counsel in forfeiture actions.
Polis signed House Bill 26-1250 into law on June 4. The measure, which passed the Colorado House and Senate by votes of 33–2 and 64–1, respectively, directs courts to pause forfeiture proceedings until there is a conviction in a related criminal case. It also establishes a right to court-appointed legal counsel for property owners who cannot afford an attorney. A fund generated from asset-forfeiture revenues will be used to cover attorney fees.
The new statute results from more than a decade of broad, cross‑partisan concern about civil asset forfeiture in Colorado and other states across the country. Law enforcement groups argue that civil forfeiture is a crucial tool to disrupt drug trafficking and other organized crime by seizing illicit proceeds. Nonetheless, investigative reports, civil-liberties analyses, and major lawsuits over the years have exposed how forfeiture practices can create perverse incentives for police departments and often neglect due process protections for innocent owners.
In response, several states have enacted laws that boost reporting and transparency, set minimum thresholds for cash seizures, add innocent-owner defenses, and in some cases abolish the practice altogether.
The Institute for Justice—a public-interest law firm that has successfully challenged asset-forfeiture schemes in Philadelphia, Albuquerque, Detroit, and other locales—applauded the enactment of Colorado’s new law.
“Colorado has taken another meaningful step toward stronger protection of its residents’ property rights. Property rights are fundamental, and this reform strengthens protections for people whose property is chosen for forfeiture,” said Alasdair Whitney, the Institute for Justice’s legislative counsel, in a press release. “With the governor’s signature, Colorado becomes only the second state in the nation to guarantee counsel for property owners facing forfeiture.”
The Institute for Justice recently published a nationwide survey of civil asset-forfeiture laws and practices. One finding was that property owners who challenge civil forfeitures seldom have attorneys, because there is no right to legal representation in civil cases and, in many instances, the cost of an attorney exceeds the value of the forfeited property.
“Very few owners who contest forfeiture have legal representation—about 6% in Arizona and 7% in Oregon—likely due to the prohibitive expense,” the report notes. “A straightforward state-court forfeiture case costs an estimated $3,300, nearly double the median cash forfeiture of $1,678 across 24 states.”
