South Carolina Asset Forfeiture Defense Lawyer

Civil asset forfeiture is covered under federal law at 18 U.S. Code § 981 and essentially allows the government to seize any real or personal property that it believes is connected to the commission of certain crimes, including drug crimes, crimes against other governments, fraud or felony offenses.

South Carolina law more specifically identifies property that can be seized by the government as part of civil asset forfeiture. This process is often used in drug busts, but it has also been used to take away property in DUI cases, counterfeiting operations, gang-related crimes and crimes that involved vehicles. S.C. Code Ann. §§ 44-53-520 gives state and local authorities the right to seize property involved with illegal criminal activity, such as:

• Real property
• Aircraft
• Motor vehicles
• Equipment used to manufacture or deliver controlled substances
• Anything used as a container for controlled substances
• Trailers
• Boats
• Money
• Other items of value

The ease of taking away people’s valuable property and money has quickly become a problem in South Carolina because the law allows law enforcement agencies to seize property that is believed to have been obtained through illegal means or used for illegal activity – even if there was no conviction in any underlying criminal case. A news investigation revealed that South Carolina law enforcement agencies seized more than $17 million in money and other assets through civil asset forfeiture between 2014 and 2016. S.C. Code Ann. § 44-53-530(e) allows government agencies to keep this property for their own use, designating 75% of the value to the law enforcement agency that seized the property, 20% to the prosecutor and 5% to the State Treasurer. South Carolina lawmakers are actively working on making changes to the law to better protect the rights of citizens from unfair seizures, but necessary reform has not yet taken place.

The 2018 United States Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Timbs v. Indiana is likely to spur additional changes in state and federal law. In this case, the Court found that the state’s seizure of a defendant’s Land Rover that was suspected of being involved in the sale of drugs was considered an excessive fine that violated the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and that the right to be free from these types of fines extended to the states. Because the value of the vehicle was more than the maximum value of a fine that the defendant could have faced, the Court found that it was unfair to effectively fine the defendant an amount equal to the vehicle’s value. This decision will help people to reclaim their property that has wrongly been seized by law enforcement agencies and prevent the state from effectively stealing people’s property.

When your property is wrongly taken by the government, you need a strong legal team in your corner to fight for its return. The government doesn’t have the right to wrongly keep your property from you , but it also won’t willingly return your property without a fight. Our knowledgeable and experienced South Carolina civil asset forfeiture lawyers work diligently to have your property returned promptly and hold government agents liable for their acts against you.