Earlier this week, we learned that law enforcement agencies in Minnesota seized more than $9.4 million in vehicles, cash and other property in 2017, an 11 percent increase from 2016. Seizing the property led to $2 million in expenses for the police department, and when you factor in the $600,000 in property that was returned to individuals, that means law enforcement made roughly $6.8 million in net proceeds from seizures.
Clearly seizing property is an easy way for law enforcement to bolster their bottom line, but when are police legally allowed to seize your property? We explain when law enforcement can seize your property, and how you can get it back in this blog.
Property Seizure in Minnesota
Under Minnesota law, police can seize your property, regardless of whether or not they have a warrant, if they believe the property has some potential evidentiary value. Essentially, police can take your property, hold it hostage and make the property owner jump through a bunch of hoops to try and get it back so long as they can claim that it may have some role in the outcome of a case.
It’s a broken system, especially when you consider that property owners are often put on the hook for law enforcement’s legal fees in the event that an owner tries to get their property back and fails. Police can basically take your stuff, make you to pay a filing fee to try and get it returned, then either be forced to return it at no harm to them, or if they win, their legal fees are dumped on the property owner. They have a huge incentive to take your belongings, and no real consequences even if they are told they must return it. This is why it’s so important to hire a lawyer to pursue your seizure claim.
Getting Seized Property Returned
If you do the math, of the $9.4 million in property seized, only $600,000 worth of things were returned, and we’d venture to guess the vast majority of the property was returned because a lawyer made a strong case for the property owner. It’s an uphill battle to get property returned to you after it’s seized, but we’ve won our fair share of cases to help victims get their items back. Here’s a closer look at the process of getting your property returned:
1. You make a written demand for the return of the seized property. The seizing agency has 48 business hours to respond, and more than 99% of the time, they deny your request.
2. Next, you have to petition the court for its return. You can find the form on your local court’s website, but there’s a significant filing fee associated with processing this petition. Usually this fee is around $300.
3. A hearing will be held within 30 days, or after 30 days if good causes exists to have the hearing pushed back.
4. At the hearing the court will return the property to the owner unless one of the following four conditions exists:
- The property is being held “in good faith” as potential evidence in an investigation, regardless if charges are actually pending or not;
- The property may be subject to forfeiture proceedings;
- The property is an illegal substance or may contain contraband; or
- The property is subject to other lawful retention.
In the event that the property is returned, the owner does not have to pay any storage costs. However, as we mentioned above, if the property owner loses their claim, the court may award the State reasonable costs and lawyer fees. Between these costs and the filing fee, it can be very expensive to try and fail to receive your seized property.
This is why you should always hire a criminal defense lawyer to challenge every single alleged reason why the state believes they need to hold onto your property. If you or someone you know has had their car, boat or other valuables seized by law enforcement and you want them returned to you, reach out to the experienced lawyers at Appelman Law Firm today.
