The Alabama Senate has voted to make it mandatory for law enforcement to report how often they use civil actions to seize a person’s property when the person has not been convicted of a crime.

Senators on Tuesday voted 33-0 for the bill. It now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives.Civil asset forfeiture is the practice of law enforcement seizing property through a civil action for suspected criminal activity.

Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) had originally sought to require a criminal conviction for property seizures.

The bill was amended to require mandatory tracking of cases instead of banning or altering the practice.

Orr says the measure is an “incremental” step and he plans on reintroducing a bill to ban the practice next year.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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