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An Act To Amend Certain Record-keeping and Reporting Requirements Imposed on State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies and the Department of Public Safety
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 15 MRSA §5825, as corrected by RR 2017, c. 1, §9, is amended to read:
§ 5825.Records; reports
 
1. Records of forfeited property.   Any officer,to whom or department or agency having custody ofto which property subject to forfeiture under section 5821 or having disposed of the propertyhas been ordered forfeited shall maintain complete records showing:
 
A. From whom it received theThe name of the court that ordered each item of property to be forfeited to the officer, department or agency;
 
B.  Under what authority it held, received or disposed of the property;
 
C.  To whom it delivered the property;
 
D. The date and manner of destruction or disposition of theon which each item of property was ordered forfeited to the officer, department or agency; and
 
E. The exact kinds, quantities and forms of theA description of each item of property forfeited to the officer, department or agency.
 
The records must be open to inspection by all federal and state officers responsible for enforcing federal and state drug control laws. Persons making final disposition or destruction of the property under court order shall report, under oath, to the court the exact circumstances of the disposition or destruction.
 
2. Department of Public Safety; centralized record.  The Department of Public Safety shall maintain a centralized record of property seized, held by and ordered to the department. A report of the dispositiontransfer of property previously held by the departmentDepartment of Public Safety and then ordered by thea court to anybe forfeited to another governmental entity must be provided at least quarterlyupon request to the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services and the Office of Fiscal and Program Review for review. These records must include an estimate as to the fair market value of items seized.The report must account for any such transfer that occurred during the 12 months preceding such a request.
 
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws regarding asset forfeiture-related record keeping to clarify that records of property that is forfeited to law enforcement agencies must be maintained by those agencies and to change the specific information that must be included in those records. The bill also provides that such records are open to inspection by anyone. The bill provides that reports concerning the transfer of property held by the Department of Public Safety and then ordered by a court to be forfeited to another governmental entity must be provided upon request to the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services and the Office of Fiscal and Program Review. The Department of Public Safety's reports must account for any such forfeiture that occurred during the 12 months preceding such a request. The bill eliminates the current law that requires the Department of Public Safety to provide these reports at least quarterly to the Commissioner of Administrative and Financial Services and the Office of Fiscal and Program Review and the current law that requires the Department of Public Safety to maintain a centralized record of property seized, held by the department and ordered to the department, including an estimate of the fair market value of items seized.