Pubdate: Sun, 21 May 2000
Source: Charlotte Observer (NC)
Copyright: 2000 The Charlotte Observer
Contact:  http://www.charlotte.com/observer/
Section: Page 15A
Author: Karen Dillon of Knight Ridder, Kansas City Star

DIVERSIONS TAKE MONEY DUE SCHOOLS

Laws differ from state to state, but police still sidestep them.

For example, little or no drug money appears to get into educational funds 
even though that's where at least eight state constitutions require 
forfeited money and property to go.

Police in North Carolina get around their constitution by simply handing 
their seizures to federal agencies, which then return up to 80 percent.

As a result, N.C. law enforcement has reaped more than $14 million in the 
last three years. (That figure may include money from joint investigations, 
however, and all of that money might not have been able to be forfeited 
under state laws.)

In North Carolina, as in many of the other states, it's difficult to 
determine how much money actually went to education because there is no 
statewide accounting.

In Wake County - the location of Raleigh, the state capital - the sheriff 
refused to disclose the amount in his county, and a number of other 
officials didn't know.

Michael Crowell, an attorney who works for the state Board of Education, 
said he didn't know about the education drain until recently, but now he 
plans to begin reviewing legal remedies to get forfeiture proceeds to schools.

He criticized the police handoffs, saying that "mentality is just puzzling 
and troubling. It's atrocious."

Wisconsin officials also didn't know police were handing off seizures.

"I don't know where they think, without a constitutional amendment, they 
can get away with unilaterally making that type of decision," said Calvin 
Potter, an assistant superintendent for the Wisconsin Department of Public 
Instruction.

But Wisconsin law enforcement officials freely admit they hand off seizures 
to federal agencies so they can get the money back.

Situations differ in other states. State supreme courts in New Mexico and 
Nebraska say it's double jeopardy to both convict a person and take his 
property.

But police are getting around those decisions by using federal agencies.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart