SB299 Alabama 2017 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Arthur OrrSenator

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2017

Title

Civil forfeiture, reporting requirements, provide publication requirements, civil penalties

Summary

Requires annual reporting, publication of civil forfeiture data, and penalties for noncompliance.

What This Bill Does

The bill adds requirements for law enforcement agencies, task forces, district attorneys, and state agencies to report detailed civil forfeiture data to the Attorney General each year, starting 2018; the Attorney General must publish these reports on its website by March 1 and provide an aggregate year-in-review. It also creates civil penalties for failing to report and lets agencies redact certain sensitive information. The changes increase transparency about seizures, forfeitures, and how proceeds are used.

Who It Affects

• Law enforcement agencies, multijurisdictional task forces, district attorneys, and state agencies that handle seized or forfeited property, who must prepare and submit annual, itemized reports to the Attorney General.
• The general public (and fund recipients) who will access the published reports on the Attorney General's website, with information about seizures, forfeitures, and how proceeds are spent; penalties apply to reporting entities for noncompliance.

Key Provisions

• Annual reporting requirement starting Jan 1, 2018: each agency/organization must submit an itemized report to the Attorney General by Jan 15 of the following calendar year detailing seizures and forfeitures.
• Report contents for seizures include date, location, currency, other property, storage, charges, receipts, expenditures, and related details; report contents for forfeitures include property, underlying offenses, disposition, recipients and amounts, expenditures, destruction details, and end-of-year currency holdings.
• Redaction allowance to protect confidential sources or safety; entities must indicate when redactions are made.
• Attorney General must publish annual reports and an aggregate summary by March 1 each year; reports are publicly accessible on the AG's website.
• The Attorney General may enforce compliance and assess civil penalties for violations ($500 per violation plus $10 per day overdue), payable to the General Fund.
• This act does not override other reporting requirements, and becomes effective immediately after governor's approval.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Civil Forfeiture