Minnesota Session Laws - 2013, Regular Session

CHAPTER 80--S.F.No. 346

An act

relating to crime; providing for forfeiture of money used or intended for use to facilitate a prostitution or sex trafficking offense; appropriating money;

amending Minnesota Statutes 2012, sections 609.5312, subdivision 1; 609.5315, subdivisions 1, 5b, by adding a subdivision.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 609.5312, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Property subject to forfeiture.

(a) All personal property is subject to forfeiture if it was used or intended for use to commit or facilitate the commission of a designated offense. All money and other property, real and personal, that represent proceeds of a designated offense, and all contraband property, are subject to forfeiture, except as provided in this section.

(b) new text begin All money used or intended to be used to facilitate the commission of a violation of section 609.322 or 609.324 or a violation of a local ordinance substantially similar to section 609.322 or 609.324 is subject to forfeiture. new text end

new text begin (c) new text end The Department of Corrections Fugitive Apprehension Unit shall not seize real property for the purposes of forfeiture under paragraph (a).

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 609.5315, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Disposition.

(a) Subject to paragraph (b), if the court finds under section 609.5313, 609.5314, or 609.5318 that the property is subject to forfeiture, it shall order the appropriate agency to do one of the following:

(1) unless a different disposition is provided under clause (3) or (4), either destroy firearms, ammunition, and firearm accessories that the agency decides not to use for law enforcement purposes under clause (8), or sell them to federally licensed firearms dealers, as defined in section 624.7161, subdivision 1, and distribute the proceeds under subdivision 5 or 5b;

(2) sell property that is not required to be destroyed by law and is not harmful to the public and distribute the proceeds under subdivision 5 or 5b;

(3) sell antique firearms, as defined in section 624.712, subdivision 3, to the public and distribute the proceeds under subdivision 5 or 5b;

(4) destroy or use for law enforcement purposes semiautomatic military-style assault weapons, as defined in section 624.712, subdivision 7;

(5) take custody of the property and remove it for disposition in accordance with law;

(6) forward the property to the federal drug enforcement administration;

(7) disburse money as provided under subdivision 5 deleted text begin or deleted text end new text begin , new text end 5b new text begin , or 5c new text end ; or

(8) keep property other than money for official use by the agency and the prosecuting agency.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), the Hennepin or Ramsey County sheriff may not sell firearms, ammunition, or firearms accessories if the policy is disapproved by the applicable county board.

(c) If property is sold under paragraph (a), the appropriate agency shall not sell property to: (1) an officer or employee of the agency that seized the property or to a person related to the officer or employee by blood or marriage; or (2) the prosecuting authority or any individual working in the same office or a person related to the authority or individual by blood or marriage.

(d) Sales of forfeited property under this section must be conducted in a commercially reasonable manner.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 609.5315, subdivision 5b, is amended to read:

Subd. 5b.

Disposition of certain forfeited proceeds; trafficking of persons; report required.

(a) new text begin Except as provided in subdivision 5c, new text end for forfeitures resulting from violations of section 609.282, 609.283, or 609.322, the money or proceeds from the sale of forfeited property, after payment of seizure, storage, forfeiture, and sale expenses, and satisfaction of valid liens against the property, must be distributed as follows:

(1) 40 percent of the proceeds must be forwarded to the appropriate agency for deposit as a supplement to the agency's operating fund or similar fund for use in law enforcement;

(2) 20 percent of the proceeds must be forwarded to the prosecuting authority that handled the forfeiture for deposit as a supplement to its operating fund or similar fund for prosecutorial purposes; and

(3) the remaining 40 percent of the proceeds must be forwarded to the commissioner of public safety and are appropriated to the commissioner for distribution to crime victims services organizations that provide services to victims of trafficking offenses.

(b) By February 15 of each year, the commissioner of public safety shall report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the senate and house of representatives committees or divisions having jurisdiction over criminal justice funding on the money collected under paragraph (a), clause (3). The report must indicate the following relating to the preceding calendar year:

(1) the amount of money appropriated to the commissioner;

(2) how the money was distributed by the commissioner; and

(3) what the organizations that received the money did with it.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 609.5315, is amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 5c. new text end

new text begin Disposition of money; prostitution. new text end

new text begin Money forfeited under section 609.5312, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), must be distributed as follows: new text end

new text begin (1) 40 percent must be forwarded to the appropriate agency for deposit as a supplement to the agency's operating fund or similar fund for use in law enforcement; new text end

new text begin (2) 20 percent must be forwarded to the prosecuting authority that handled the forfeiture for deposit as a supplement to its operating fund or similar fund for prosecutorial purposes; and new text end

new text begin (3) the remaining 40 percent must be forwarded to the commissioner of public safety to be deposited in the safe harbor for youth account in the special revenue fund and are appropriated to the commissioner for distribution to crime victims services organizations that provide services to sexually exploited youth, as defined in section 260C.007, subdivision 31. new text end

Presented to the governor May 16, 2013

Signed by the governor May 20, 2013, 3:20 p.m.