Civil asset forfeiture: Tracking the cash seized by police in a Deep South state where transparency is not required Will Tucker, Southern Poverty Law Center, March 29, 2017 Each year, law enforcement agencies seize billions of dollars in cash and other property from potential suspects – some of whom are never convicted or even charged with a crime – through a process called civil asset forfeiture. In nearly every state, the agencies get to keep some or all of the property. In 13 states and the District of Columbia, agencies don’t have to report or even keep records to show the value of the property they confiscate or why it was seized, according to the Institute for Justice.