60-4117. Disposition of forfeited property; use of proceeds of sale.
60-4117
60-4117. Disposition of forfeited property; use ofproceeds of sale.Except as provided in K.S.A. 65-7014, and amendments thereto: (a)Whenproperty is forfeited under this act, the lawenforcement agency may:
(1) Retain such property for official use or transfer the custody orownership to any local, state or federal agency, subject to anylien preserved by the court;
(2) destroy or use for investigative or training purposes,any illegal or controlled substances and equipment or othercontraband, provided that materials necessary as evidence shall bepreserved;
(3) sell property which is not required by law to bedestroyed and which is not harmful to the public:
(A) All property, except real property, designated bythe seizing agency to be sold shall be sold at public sale to thehighest bidder for cash without appraisal. The seizing agencyshall first cause notice of the sale to be made by publication atleast once in an official county newspaperas defined by K.S.A. 64-101, and amendmentsthereto. Such notice shall include the time, place, and conditionsof the sale and description of the property to be sold. Nothing inthis subsection shall prevent a state agency from using the statesurplus property system and such system's procedures shall besufficient to meet the requirements of this subsection.
(B) Real property may be sold pursuant to subsection(A), or the seizing agency may contract with a real estate company,licensed in this state, to list, advertise and sell such realproperty in a commercially reasonable manner.
(C) No employee or public official of any agencyinvolved in the investigation, seizure or forfeiture of seizedproperty may purchase or attempt to purchase such property; or
(4) salvage the property, subject to any lien preserved bythe court.
(b) When firearms are forfeited under this act, the firearms in thediscretion of the seizing agency, shall be destroyed, used within the seizingagency for official purposes, traded to another law enforcement agency for usewithin such agency or given to the Kansas bureau of investigation for lawenforcement, testing, comparison or destruction by the Kansas bureau ofinvestigation forensic laboratory.
(c) The proceeds of any sale shall be distributed in thefollowing order of priority:
(1) For satisfaction of any court preserved securityinterest or lien, or in the case of a violation, as defined by subsection(h) of K.S.A. 60-4104, and amendments thereto, the proceeds shall be remittedto the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, andamendments thereto. Upon receipt of such remittance, the state treasurer shalldeposit the entire amount into the state treasury to the credit of the medicaidfraud reimbursement fund;
(2) thereafter, for payment of all proper expenses of theproceedings for forfeiture and disposition, including expenses ofseizure, inventory, appraisal, maintenance of custody, preservationof availability, advertising, service of process, sale and courtcosts;
(3) reasonable attorney fees:
(A) If the plaintiff's attorney is a county ordistrict attorney, an assistant, or another governmental agency'sattorney, fees shall not exceed 15% of the total proceeds, less theamounts of subsection (c)(1) and (2), in an uncontested forfeiture nor 20%of the total proceeds, less the amounts of subsection (c)(1) and (2), in acontested forfeiture. Such fees shall be deposited in the countyor city treasury and credited to the special prosecutor's trustfund. Moneys in such fund shall not be considered a source ofrevenue to meet normal operating expenditures, including salaryenhancement. Such fund shall be expended by the county or districtattorney, or other governmental agency's attorney through thenormal county or city appropriation system and shall be used forsuch additional law enforcement and prosecutorial purposes as thecounty or district attorney or other governmental agency's attorneydeems appropriate, including educational purposes. All moneysderived from past or pending forfeitures shall be expended pursuantto this act. The board of county commissioners shall provideadequate funding to the county or district attorney's office toenable such office to enforce this act. Neither future forfeituresnor the proceeds therefrom shall be used in planning or adopting acounty or district attorney's budget;
(B) if the plaintiff's attorney is the attorney general and the conductand offense giving rise to forfeiture is pursuant to subsection (h) of K.S.A.60-4104, and amendments thereto, fees shall not exceed 15% of the totalproceeds, less the amounts of subsection (c)(1) and (2) in an uncontestedforfeiture nor 20% of the total proceeds, less the amounts of subsection (c)(1)and (2) in a contested forfeiture. Such fees shall be remitted to the statetreasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, and amendmentsthereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state treasurer shalldeposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit of the medicaidfraud prosecution revolving fund. Moneys paid into the medicaid fraudprosecution revolving fund pursuant to this subsection shall be appropriated tothe attorney general for use by the attorney general in the investigation andprosecution of medicaid fraud and abuse; or
(C) if the plaintiff's attorney is a private attorney,such reasonable fees shall be negotiated by the employing lawenforcement agency;
(4) repayment of law enforcement funds expended inpurchasing of contraband or controlled substances, subject to anyinteragency agreement.
(d) Any proceeds remaining shall be credited as follows,subject to any interagency agreement:
(1) If the law enforcement agency is a state agency, theentire amount shall be deposited in the state treasury and creditedto such agency's state forfeiture fund. There is herebyestablished in the state treasury the following state funds:Kansas bureau of investigation state forfeiture fund, Kansas attorneygeneral's state medicaid fraud forfeiture fund, Kansashighway patrol state forfeiture fund, Kansas department ofcorrections state forfeiture fund and Kansas national guard counter drugstate forfeiture fund.Expenditures from the Kansas bureau of investigation state forfeiture fundshall be made upon warrants of the director of accounts and reports issuedpursuant to vouchers approved by the attorney general or by a person or personsdesignated by the attorney general. Expenditures from the Kansas attorneygeneral's state medicaid fraud forfeiture fund shall be made upon warrants ofthe director of accounts and reports issued pursuant to vouchers approved bythe attorney general or by a person or persons designated by the attorneygeneral.Expenditures from the Kansas highway patrol state forfeiture fundshall be made upon warrants of the director of accounts and reports issuedpursuant to vouchers approved by the superintendent of the highway patrol or bya person or personsdesignated by the superintendent.Expenditures from the Kansas department of corrections state forfeiture fundshall be made upon warrants of the director of accounts and reports issuedpursuant to vouchers approved by the secretary of the department of correctionsor by a person or personsdesignated by the secretary.Expenditures from the Kansas national guard counter drug state forfeiturefund shall be made upon warrants of the director of accounts and reportsissued pursuant to vouchers approved by the adjutant general of Kansas or by aperson or persons designated by the adjutant general. Each agency shallcompile andsubmit a forfeiture fund report to the legislature on orbefore February 1 of each year. Such report shall include, but notbe limited to: (A) The fund balance on December 1; (B) the depositsand expenditures for the previous 12-month period ending December1. Upon the effective date of this act, the director of accountsand reports is directed to transfer each agency's balance in thestate special asset forfeiture fund to the agency's new,state forfeiture fund. All liabilities of the statespecial asset forfeiture fund existing prior to such date arehereby imposed on the Kansas bureau of investigation state forfeiture fund,Kansas highway patrol state forfeiture fund and the Kansas department ofcorrections state forfeiture fund. The state specialasset forfeiture fund is hereby abolished.
(2) If the law enforcement agency is a city or countyagency, the entire amount shall be deposited in such city or countytreasury and credited to a special law enforcement trust fund.Each agency shall compile and submit annually a special lawenforcement trust fund report to the entity which has budgetaryauthority over such agency and such report shall specify, for suchperiod, the type and approximate value of the forfeited propertyreceived, the amount of any forfeiture proceeds received, and howany of those proceeds were expended.
(3) Moneys in the Kansas bureau of investigation state forfeiture fund,Kansas highway patrol stateforfeiture fund, Kansas department of corrections state forfeiture fund,thespecial law enforcement trust funds and the Kansas national guard counterdrug state forfeiture fund shall not be considered asource of revenue to meet normal operating expenses. Such fundsshall be expended by the agencies or departments through the normalcity, county or state appropriation system and shall be usedfor such special, additional law enforcement purposes as the lawenforcement agency head deems appropriate. Neither futureforfeitures nor the proceeds from such forfeituresshall be used in planning oradopting a law enforcement agency's budget.
(4) Moneys in the Kansas attorney general's medicaid fraud forfeiture fundshall defray costs of the attorney general in connection with the duties ofinvestigating and prosecuting medicaid fraud and abuse.
History: L. 1994, ch. 339, § 17;L. 1999, ch. 170, § 22;L. 2000, ch. 68, § 1;L. 2005, ch. 141, § 3;L. 2006, ch. 183, § 10; July 1.