Assuming there is a subsequent conviction and the law permits forfeiture, law enforcement officials then impound the car and eventually put it up for auction, a process that can be quite lucrative to local departments. The police department responsible for making the arrest and the local district attorney’s office often split the proceeds, a tidy sum that goes towards additional drunk driving enforcement efforts.
A recent article in a Moorhead, MN newspaper discussed how the practice of vehicle forfeiture for repeat drunk driving offenders has been on the rise in recent years. Forfeiture appears to be increasing across over the state, but is especially booming business in Clay County, MN. Data shows that the percentage of forfeited property seized by law enforcement is increasingly made up of the vehicles of drunk drivers, a category that now accounts for 67 percent of all seized assets in the county, up from only 41 percent of seized property in 2011.
Local officials have thus far not been able to account for the dramatic rise in vehicle forfeitures, saying that policy has remained consistent that officers should attempt to confiscate whatever vehicles they are able to. Many complain that the recent push for enforcement has more to do with amassing lucrative assets and less to do with protecting the public.
Another criticism of the asset forfeiture is that the owners of vehicles used in drunk driving incidents can have their cars sold off without ever having done anything wrong. In Minnesota, innocent owners are allowed to file a claim arguing that they were not responsible for another person’s wrongful use of their car. However, this can be an expensive, complicated and lengthy fight and the burden of proof lies on the owner, not the government. Unless the car is worth a substantial sum it’s often not worth the effort to fight to keep the car, meaning many people who may be completely innocent must endure unjust forfeiture.
Source: “Vehicle confiscation often used in fight against drunken driving,” by Archie Ingersoll, published at JamestownSun.com.