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Senate advances first substitute to change Initiative B forfeiture rules after hours of debate
Summary
After extended floor debate and several amendment votes, the Utah Senate advanced the first substitute of Senate Bill 175, which revises Initiative B civil forfeiture procedures to add protections for innocent property owners while preserving law-enforcement forfeiture tools; one amendment to require federal/state task-force agreements failed on a roll call.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Senate advanced the first substitute of Senate Bill 175 on Feb. 18, 2004, after lengthy floor debate over how the state should limit unintended consequences from Initiative B, the citizen-approved civil-forfeiture measure.
Sponsor Sen. Scott K. Butters (Senate) opened the debate, saying the substitute seeks to preserve the initiative’s protections for innocent property holders while correcting technical gaps that have impeded law enforcement. He described changes including shortening court-processing time from 90 to 60 days and adding protections for ‘‘common interest’’ owners who can show they were unaware of criminal use of property.
Sen. Jason E. Thomas (Senate) proposed…
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