Another year has come to pass, another year in which the State of Kansas continued to unconstitutionally take millions of dollars from people within its borders through the state’s civil asset forfeiture regime.

According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the state “forfeited” $2 million in money and property from people in 2022.

In the context of civil asset forfeiture, “forfeit” is a misdirection. While forfeit familiarly means “to give up,” when the state “forfeits” your property, the government takes it as a penalty imposed on you.

Kansas law allows law enforcement to seize and keep people’s money and property if they suspect or allege it is connected to criminal activity, even if the owner is never charged with or convicted of a crime. Kansas law also allows law enforcement to keep 100% of the proceeds from forfeiture.

This arrangement creates a compelling profit incentive for law enforcement agencies to seize people’s money and property.

In 2018, state lawmakers passed legislation that requires all Kansas law enforcement agencies to report asset seizure and forfeiture information to the Kansas Asset Seizure and Forfeiture Repository.

Since reporting began on July 1, 2019, law enforcement agencies have reported seizing $20 million in money and property — an average of $13,000 per day.

Virtually all the assets seized by Kansas law enforcement are forfeited. While 80% of owners in the database are still legally innocent, the state has permanently taken approximately 90% of the seized property.

To recover their property, people must prove the property’s innocence — which is why you see forfeiture case names like Kansas Highway Patrol v. 1959 Chevrolet Corvette.

The few people lucky enough to regain their property spend an average of 14 months fighting for it in court.

The Institute for Justice estimates the average cost to hire an attorney to fight a simple state forfeiture case is $3,000. Half of all seizures in the KASFR have a value of $3,000 or less.

So most people whose property has been seized by Kansas law enforcement are better off forfeiting what was taken.

Proponents of civil asset forfeiture argue it is necessary to fight large criminal enterprises, alleging that seizing criminals’ assets makes it harder for them to continue their illegal operations.

But the data shows most seizures in Kansas do not involve values that would injure organized crime operations — but that often amount to a significant loss for the average person.

Although the KASFR database sheds light on forfeiture activities in Kansas, dark spots remain from prevalent errors and omissions.

Kansas law enforcement turns over some seizures to federal agencies for forfeiture proceedings in federal courts. Through a program known as “equitable sharing,” federal agencies then return a percentage of the proceeds to Kansas law enforcement.

The KBI does not include those assets in the annual reports to the legislature. Consequently, the KBI grossly underrepresents the total amounts of cash and property forfeited from people in the state.

The KBI annual forfeiture reports show the state has forfeited $9.4 million through state proceedings. Americans for Prosperity Foundation has found Kansas law enforcement agencies have transferred $5 million more in seized assets to federal agencies for forfeiture, meaning the KBI reports omit up to one-third of the total value of money and property forfeited in the state.

Lawmakers passed the forfeiture transparency law because they suspected civil asset forfeiture was being overused. Four years of forfeiture data confirms their suspicions and begs the question: is civil asset forfeiture primarily used to promote public safety or police for profit?

Some states have taken measures to protect people’s rights and property. New Mexico, for example, passed laws to end civil forfeiture, redirect all criminal forfeiture proceeds to the state’s general fund and place restrictions on the federal forfeiture equitable sharing program.

Last year, 2022, marked the 28th year civil asset forfeiture imperiled people’s rights to property and due process in Kansas. Perhaps, in 2023, it is time to protect them.

Jon Lueth and Thomas Kimbrell are with Americans for Prosperity Foundation.