Section 44 Sheriff Forfeiture Trust Funds

Subsection (d) of section 47 of said chapter 94C, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

There shall be established within the office of the state treasurer separate special law enforcement trust funds for each sheriff, district attorney and for the attorney general. All such monies and proceeds received by any sheriff, prosecuting district attorney or attorney general shall be deposited in such a trust fund and shall then be expended without further appropriation to defray the costs of protracted investigations, to provide additional technical equipment or expertise, to provide matching funds to obtain federal grants, or such other law enforcement purposes as the sheriff, district attorney or attorney general deems appropriate. The sheriff, district attorney or attorney general may expend up to 10 per cent of the monies and proceeds for drug rehabilitation, drug education and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime watch programs which further law enforcement purposes. Any program seeking to be an eligible recipient of said funds shall file an annual audit report with the local sheriff, district attorney and attorney general. Such report shall include, but not be limited to, a listing of the assets, liabilities, itemized expenditures, and board of directors of such program. Within 90 days of the close of the fiscal year, each sheriff, district attorney and the attorney general shall file an annual report with the house and senate committees on ways and means on the use of the monies in the trust fund for the purposes of drug rehabilitation, drug education, and other anti-drug or neighborhood crime watch programs.

This section would add sheriffs to the current statutory structure that allows the Attorney General and district attorneys to establish forfeiture accounts.