Daniels Vetoes Civil Forfeiture Legislation

The Indiana Constitution has long provided for the deposit of monies collected from civil forfeitures into the state's Common School Fund, but law enforcement agencies for years have socked away most of the money for their use as an offset for their costs. Governor Mitch Daniels wisely vetoed legislation passed by the General Assembly this year with the blessing of Attorney General Greg Zoeller that would have codified the practice of letting law enforcement agencies keep the lion's share of civil forfeiture monies. Gov. Daniels wrote in his veto message of SEA 215:

The bill would take more than 90 cents of every dollar collected through forfeiture for the "expense of collection" rather than sending it to the Common School fund. That is unwarranted as policy and constitutionally unacceptable in light of the Supreme Court's recent guidance and plain language of  Article 8, Section 2 of the Indiana Constitution.