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The Tennessee Conservative [By David Seal] –
When private property is seized by law enforcement agencies under the suspicion that it was used to commit a crime, the standard of evidence used in forfeiture warrant hearings is “preponderance of the evidence.” This low standard almost guarantees that property falls into an administrative trap.
House Bill 1024 sponsored by Representative Lowell Russell (R-Vonore) and 47 house co-sponsors would have increased the standard of evidence to “clear and convincing” for forfeiture warrant hearings. The bill is currently “off notice.”
Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) is the prime senate sponsor.
Forfeiture Warrant Hearings, conducted by sessions court judges are ex-parte, meaning that the person from which the cash or property was seized does not have standing to challenge the forfeiture at that stage of legal proceedings.
The first opportunity to challenge a cash or property forfeiture is when the case is advanced to an administrative court in one of three locations in Tennessee, Strawberry Plains, Nashville, or Memphis. Cases are assigned by geographic region.
Once cash and/or private property is plunged into the bureaucratic administrative state for a hearing, it becomes apparent how important it is to filter out innocent property owners. This is why the standard of evidence at the sessions court level is so important.
With the mean value of seized cash at $675.00 and the cost of attorney’s fees around $3000.00 to fight a civil forfeiture case, most property owners default and allow the state to keep the cash or property. A legal fight for small amounts of seized cash is financially impractical. Many believe this is by design.
Activists that work to reform civil forfeiture statutes in Tennessee believe that increasing the standard of evidence to “clear and convincing” would prevent innocent people from getting caught up in the forfeiture trap.
“When thinking about civil forfeiture, it’s important to think about the common uses of civil courts. Most of the time a person suing another person or business for damages caused. For this reason, civil cases are often decided with a “preponderance of evidence” standard. Divorce settlements, for example, rely on preponderance of evidence of the parents’ lives to make decisions about money and childcare.
The government’s use of civil courts to seize property was almost exclusively aimed at abandoned property related to piracy. It was used as a tool to reclaim stolen and abandoned property. As the war on drugs ramped up it was used in the same way, but over time its scope has expanded, and in Tennessee a process developed where a potential crime is tried separately from any property associated with it. This means you can be acquitted of a crime and still lose your property because the two are not linked, and because the crime requires proof “beyond a reasonable doubt,” and the property [forfeiture] only requires a “preponderance of evidence.” – said Justin Cornett, CAF Activist
The Tennessee Conservative News will continue to follow this issue and report on developments as information becomes available.
About the Author: David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman, 917 Society Volunteer, and past Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a citizen lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level. David is also a 2024 winner of The Tennessee Conservative Flame Award & has received an accolade from the Institute For Justice for successfully lobbing the TN legislature to protect property rights. David can be reached at david@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
