Here in Maine, civil asset forfeiture is not used often. There are many hoops for the government to jump through.
In the cases where there is an actual forfeiture, the assets go to the State of Maine’s general fund. Police departments and sheriff’s department do not receive anything, so there is no incentive for them to be aggressive, as is the case in other states.
Civil forfeiture must never benefit those that implement it as that equates it to legal robbery. Putting it in the general fund of the state serves a balanced approach while removing a motive of LE to abuse it. I would be strongly in favor of putting such constraints.
Is this civil forfeiture a federal policy that benefits the DOJ, and then they get to divvy it out to the states?