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Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Ind. Courts - Still more on: "78 prosecutors sued for seized funds: Law firm claims counties broke state law by not turning money over to school fund" [Updated]

Updating this ILB entry from Nov. 20th, Rebecca S. Green of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports today:

Area prosecutors believe they are being unfairly targeted by a Marion County lawsuit accusing 75 of the state’s county prosecutors of breaking state law regarding how they handle assets seized from criminals. * * *

[S]ome area prosecutors rarely seek asset forfeitures from criminals, because the process is costly and time-consuming. And the few they have filed didn’t net enough money to pass on to the common school fund after law enforcement costs were paid.

Huntington County Prosecutor Amy Richison is among the 75 prosecutors listed as defendants, a fact that makes her noticeably angry.

“I can only speak for my county and what I do in my county … but I can assure the public that we have done it according to the statute,” Richison said. “Therefore the lawsuit in which we are named is frivolous.”

In the two-year period outlined in the lawsuit, Richison said her office filed three civil forfeitures.

“In one of the cases, the law enforcement costs exceeded the results of the forfeiture action,” Richison said, adding the other two cases involved vehicle seizures and the cases are pending, so no money has been distributed to anyone.

She said Ogden’s allegations that the prosecutors are intentionally withholding the money are untrue.

“My office received no money whatsoever in civil forfeiture,” she said. “The money that we pursue is to reimburse the law enforcement expenses – period. We do not retain a single penny of what is forfeited. None of our office is funded by civil forfeitures proceeds.” * * *

While a few county prosecutors have since been dropped from the suit, Ogden said if they are still named then they haven’t given any money to the common school fund or is possibly using federal policies as a way to sidestep the law.

Steuben County Prosecutor Tom Wilson said his office rarely seizes assets, largely because the type of criminals Steuben County sees rarely have the kind of assets worth forfeiting. The last forfeiture case handled was through a federal drug case, which Wilson said does not require money to be sent to the common school fund. * * *

Attorney General Greg Zoeller has yet to decide whether to join the lawsuit. The suit was filed in July but sealed for 120 days to allow Zoeller time to decide whether to intervene.

Zoeller’s spokesman, Bryan Corbin, said the attorney general is still deciding whether to intervene. No prosecutors have asked the attorney general to intervene.

Ogden said he believed that because the case was filed on behalf of the state as a whistle-blower suit, the attorney general needed to either side with the plaintiff or stay out of the case.

Corbin said the attorney general does not yet need to respond.

“I don’t know if we agree with Mr. Ogden’s interpretation. But as of today we are not going to make a decision.”

[Updated at 2:30 PM] Paul Ogden has posted this entry on his blog, titled "The Responsibility of Attorney Genral Greg Zoeller to Uphold the Law ."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 23, 2010 10:37 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts