BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3659

By: Hefner

Criminal Jurisprudence

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

There are concerns that the process by which law enforcement agencies may seize assets alleged to be related to crimes is being abused across Texas. Among the concerns is that the evidentiary standard that the state must meet in order to retain seized assets is not high enough and that this unjustly impacts holders of these assets. While certain disclosure requirements exist, disclosure is only required once a year and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) only publishes statewide aggregate figures, which prevents any insight into what the problem currently entails. C.S.H.B. 3659 seeks to address these issues by exempting certain property below a specified amount from seizure, raising the evidentiary standard for the state in certain asset forfeiture proceedings, and requiring monthly reports to the OAG, which must be made public.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 3659 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to exempt property that is contraband from civil asset forfeiture if the property is not otherwise unlawful to possess and has an aggregate value of less than $2,500. The bill establishes that for purposes of determining the aggregate value of the contraband, the owner or interest holder is not required to have simultaneously owned or had an interest in all of the property constituting contraband. The exemption does not apply to money that is used by law enforcement during an undercover criminal investigation of an offense under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.

C.S.H.B. 3659 raises the evidentiary standard for the state in an asset forfeiture proceeding for substitute property or contraband from a preponderance of the evidence to clear and convincing evidence.

C.S.H.B. 3659 requires a law enforcement agency engaged in the seizure, forfeiture, receipt, or expenditure of proceeds and property under statutory provisions governing civil asset forfeiture to submit a monthly report to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The report must include all of the information required by the annual audit by the county commissioners court or governing body of a municipality under those provisions and specify the number of seizures challenged or not challenged by an owner or interest holder of the property. The bill requires each law enforcement agency to file the report during the preceding month and requires a law enforcement agency that did not engage in a seizure or forfeiture during the reporting period to indicate that fact in the report.

C.S.H.B. 3659 requires the OAG to adopt a standard form for the report and publish on the OAG website a monthly report. The report must include each law enforcement agency's specific information, aggregate the information by agency, and include the total value of proceeds and property seized by all law enforcement agencies during the reporting period. The bill prohibits the OAG monthly report and the website from including the following:

· any identifying information of an owner or interest holder of the seized or forfeited property or of another individual or entity involved in the forfeiture proceeding; or

· the location, vehicle identification number, or serial number of any seized or forfeited property.

C.S.H.B. 3659 applies only to a forfeiture proceeding that begins on or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 3659 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute lowers the aggregate value of property that is exempt from civil asset forfeiture from any amount less than $5,000, as in the introduced, to any amount that is less than $2,500. The substitute includes a provision absent in the introduced that establishes that the exemption does not apply to money that is used by law enforcement during an undercover criminal investigation of an offense under the Texas Controlled Substances Act.