Loopholes still left open

By State Sen. Sam Graves

As promised, I will continue to talk about the bills which passed and did not pass this legislative session. One particular bill benefitting local communities and schools was defeated during the final hours of debate on the Senate floor.

Senate Bill 851 was intended to prevent local law enforcement agencies from circumventing the existing law in order to keep a portion of the seized drug and property assets. Currently, when law enforcement agencies discover cash or property they suspect resulted from criminal activity, they call in agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Involving the DEA makes the seizure a federal case, bypassing state courts, resulting in less money filtered back to local schools. The DEA seizes the assets and after taking their cut, the rest is turned over to the local agency.

There has been some confusion with this existing law as to who is responsible for the seizure. The main objective of this bill was to clarify the seizing agency. The bill defines the seizing agency as the agency who actually discovers and exercises control over the suspected property. Permission by the circuit judge is required under this bill to involve federal agencies.

In the last two years, the Justice Department has returned over $117 million in joint forfeitures to the state and local police departments across the country.

Missouri law states that the assets seized are to be returned to local schools to fund education. The revenue retrieved is placed into the Revolving School Building Fund. School districts then submit applications for approval of funds taken from the revolving fund for specific capital improvement projects. However, several criminal cases involve both state and federal officials. If federal agents are called in to assist, then money must go back to the local department. This money could be sent to our schools, insuring our children have the best educational system available. This allocation of seized property was the major point of discussion on SB 851.

The problem lies with officials knowing the loopholes in the system and using them for their own department’s gain, taking money away from schools. We need to stop the war on drugs, and a stepping stone is education. Better communities, schools, and law enforcement combined provide the best defense to protect our children from the dangers of drugs.