LOC News
Oregon Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Local Government Use of Civil Forfeiture
In a win for local government, the Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Yamhill County in its opinion regarding Yamhill County v. Sublet.
The case addressed whether a local government may seize, and force an individual to forfeit property that is connected to certain criminal conduct, through the judicial proceeding known as civil forfeiture. Local government agencies use civil forfeiture as a tool to address criminal conduct within their communities.
In this matter, after the criminal defendant was convicted of crimes related to drugs and illegal possession of a firearm, Yamhill County sought to forfeit the defendant’s home based on the property being used to facilitate the criminal conduct.
The criminal defendant appealed the county’s civil forfeiture action, arguing that the civil forfeiture action placed them in “jeopardy” under the U.S Constitution’s Fifth Amendment prohibition against “double jeopardy.”
The Oregon Court of Appeals agreed with the criminal defendant and held that Ballot Measure 3, initiated by citizens in 2000, made civil forfeiture criminal in nature because it imposed procedural and substantive limits on its use. Because the court determined that civil forfeiture was criminal in nature, the court opined that a civil forfeiture proceeding which arises out of the same acts of a criminal proceeding would constitute double jeopardy.
The Oregon Supreme Court disagreed and held that the civil forfeiture scheme is a remedial civil sanction and is neither punishment nor criminal for purposes of the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause, as was the intention by the Oregon Legislature and as intended by the voter-approved ballot measures.
The LOC filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in support of the county, along with the cities of Keizer, Salem, and Medford, as well as with the Association of Oregon Counties and the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Association. The Oregon Department of Justice also filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the county. The LOC would like to thank Rebeca Plaza with Capitol Legal Services for her excellent work in this matter.
Contact: Jayme Pierce, General Counsel - jpierce@orcities.org
Last Updated 11/22/24