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MEMORANDUM <br /> <br /> <br />DATE: August 25, 2011 <br /> <br />TO: City Manager Bill Malinen <br /> <br />FROM: Chief Rick Mathwig <br /> <br />SUBJECT: Forfeiture Information <br /> <br />This memorandum is in response to Mayor Roe’s request for a report related to questions raised <br />by a citizen. <br /> <br />Property seized and ultimately forfeited by the Roseville Police Department is governed by <br />Minnesota statutes: 169A.63 as it pertains to vehicle forfeitures for aggravated drunk driving <br />arrests, and 609.531 as it pertains to vehicle and property seized for designated offenses <br />such as narcotics, burglary, and other crimes. <br /> <br />Other property forfeited by the Police Department, not governed by Minnesota statutes, is <br />generally related to our narcotics officer assigned to the Ramsey County’s Violent Crime <br />Enforcement Team (VCET). A percentage of their forfeitures are in concert with federal <br />agencies such as the DEA. Those forfeitures are under the direction of federal laws which <br />are similar to those in Minnesota . <br /> <br />Each Minnesota statute contains numerous subdivisions which strictly control forfeitures <br />and the appeal processes afforded to those whose property is seized by law enforcement. <br /> <br />Upon seizure of property to be forfeited the owner is issued a receipt for the property and is <br />issued written documentation on how to contest the seizure in court. This information is <br />written in multiple languages and the law enforcement agency must be certain the person <br />understands the seizure and the appeal process or the seizure will be considered invalid. <br /> <br />Once property has been legally seized and forfeited state statutes dictate how the proceeds <br />should be dispersed. This process differs among crimes, but involving aggravated DWI <br />offenses, the law enforcement agency retains seventy percent of the proceeds and thirty <br />percent is forwarded to the prosecuting attorney. For crimes involving narcotics, burglary, <br />etc., percentages differ but in general the law enforcement agency retains seventy percent <br />of the proceeds, twenty percent is forwarded to the prosecuting attorney and the remaining <br />ten percent is sent to the State of Minnesota ’s Crime Victim’s Fund . <br /> <br />The Minnesota Peace Officers Standards and Training Board (POST) is the state entity that <br />holds all professional licenses of peace officers in Minnesota. POST provides many <br />functions one of which is offering model policies based on best practices in law <br />enforcement. Some of the model policies are considered mandatory; Procession of Property <br />Seized for Administrative Forfeiture is a required policy of all law enforcement agencies in <br />Minnesota. The model policy was implemented in 2011 . The model policy did not change our <br />forfeiture operations in any significant manner. <br /> <br />Minnesota statutes mandate every forfeiture be reported to the Office of the State Auditor.