AB 280

Under current law, the state or a local law enforcement agency may acquire

certain property involved in the commission of crime through a forfeiture proceeding,

which is generally initiated after the end of the criminal case to which it relates. The

forfeiture law applies to all property directly or indirectly derived from the

commission of a crime. It also covers certain other property related to the

commission of a crime, including: 1) an illegal controlled substance and equipment

used in committing a crime relating to a controlled substance; 2) a vehicle used to

transport property used or received in committing a felony; 3) a vehicle used in

committing a crime relating to prostitution; 4) property used in committing a

stalking offense or a criminal violation of a domestic abuse, child abuse, or

harassment restraining order or injunction; and 5) pirated, bootlegged, and

counterfeit recordings and any equipment used to make them. Current law also

permits the state or a local law enforcement agency to retain contraband that it has

seized, which includes machines or materials (including computers) that are used to

create other contraband items.

Under this bill, a computer that is used, with the knowledge and consent of its

owner, in the commission of a crime is subject to forfeiture, regardless of whether it

is contraband. If a computer is forfeited under the bill, the law enforcement agency

that seized it may retain it for its own use, donate it to a nonprofit organization or

another government agency, or sell it and, in general, retain 50 percent of the

proceeds of the sale (with the remainder being deposited in the school fund).