(a) Any law enforcement agency of Madison County that is in possession of seized currency which it intends to make part of a forfeiture proceeding in the circuit court, at the election of the law enforcement agency, may deliver the currency to the circuit clerk for deposit with a federally insured financial institution ordinarily and customarily used by the clerk for the holding of funds in the custody of the clerk.
(b) Absent an order of the circuit court, no law enforcement agency may be required to deposit seized currency pursuant to the procedure contained in this section. The law enforcement agency may elect to deposit only a portion of currency seized in the manner provided in this section while maintaining the remaining portion of the seized currency in its original form. In determining whether to maintain currency in its original form, the law enforcement agency may consider whether the currency has significant, independent, tangible evidentiary purpose such as, among other factors, the presence of fingerprints, incriminating packaging, the presence of writings or other notations on the currency, or other factors wherein the law enforcement agency may determine that a photograph or video tape of the currency would be insufficient to use as evidence. A law enforcement agency may not deposit and the clerk shall not accept any currency that the law enforcement agency intends to preserve in its physical currency form for evidentiary purposes.
(c) All seized currency presented to the clerk for deposit shall be deposited into a federally insured financial institution as soon as practicable after the clerk takes possession of the seized currency. To the extent practicable and reasonably convenient, currency deposited by the clerk into a federally insured financial institution pursuant to this section shall be deposited into an interest bearing account.
(d) Currency deposited with the circuit clerk pursuant to this section simultaneously with or following the filing of a complaint seeking civil forfeiture of the deposited funds shall specify the amount of funds presented to the clerk for deposit and the date the funds were presented to the clerk.
(e) With respect to each separate deposit of funds pursuant to this section, the clerk shall maintain a record of all of the following:
(1) The name of the law enforcement agency making the deposit.
(2) The date and amount of the deposit.
(3) The interest earned with respect to the deposit.
(4) The case number and status of the civil forfeiture action to which the deposit relates.
(5) The date and amount of disbursement made pursuant to order of the court in which the forfeiture action is pending.
(f) No funds collected pursuant to this section may be disbursed except pursuant to court order which shall specify the manner and amount of the disbursement.
(g) Any interest earned on funds subsequently forfeited shall be paid to the General Fund of Madison County.
Last modified: May 3, 2021