Department of the Attorney General

Asset Forfeiture Unit

This area is for law enforcement only

1. ASSET FORFEITURE PROGRAM GOAL     The Asset Forfeiture Program’s goal is to be timely and responsive to your (the agencies’) needs and requests.   The Program will need everyone’s cooperation in order to meet its goal. To insure efficient and timely funding  approvals and reimbursements, the Program will require the assistance of each participating agency to property  follow the polices and procedures related to submission or orders, request for funding, submission of seized  cash and submission of reimbursement requests. In turn, the Program will be expected to make more timely  decisions on funding requests and reimburse agencies in a more efficient and timely manner. In order to meet  our goals, the following policies and procedures will be implemented as of today, April 29, 2005:
2. UNCLAIMED APPROVED FUNDING REQUESTS
   Problem: Funds are being left encumbered for years after approval. The Program cannot accurately determine  what is actually available to distribute to agencies and/or how much money is available for training and other  requests from agencies due to outstanding debt requirements.
   Solution: “Use it, or lose it!” All agencies will have 30 days from today, April 29, 2005 to submit reimbursement requests for all outstanding approved funding request from fiscal year 2004 and earlier. If a submission for reimbursement is not made within 30 days, the outstanding request will be closed.Note: Reimbursements made to an agency for costs incurred in a prior fiscal year normally cannot be used by the agency and must be returned to the “general fund!”
3. FUNDING REQUEST PROCEDURES
   Problem: Currently, Program staff spends a substantial amount of time following-up on funding requests due to the submission of incomplete requests. The time spent on following-up on a request takes away from other important tasks like making reimbursements. Also, the Program is required to routinely deny fund requests.
   Solutions:  

    

   • Standardized request forms.  The Program has developed three forms: Training Request Form, Completed Training Certification and Equipment Request Form. The forms must be completely filled-out or it will be sent back to the requesting agency without review. A copy of the forms will be available on the AG website.
   • Pre-determined periods for funding requests.  In order to insure an accurate view of available funds, the Program will accept funding request only after we have determined a fixed amount of available funds. Therefore, funding requests periods will be tied to our quarterly auctions. Request for funding will only be accepted for a two-week period after each auction. The Program will respond to your request within two weeks of request period closing.

Sample Funding Request Period

  Auction Date:    Request For Funding:

  December 1, 2007

December 3, 2007 – December 14, 2007

 Projected Auction Dates 2013

  April 6, 2013  (Request Period: April 8, 2013 – April 19, 2013)

September 7, 2013 (September 9, 2013 – September 20, 2013)

December 14, 2013  (December 16, 2013 – December 27, 2013)

WHO IS AUTHORIZED TO SIGN A REQUEST FOR USE OF ASSET FORFEITURE FUNDS?

The Departmental Head or those designated by the departmental head to submit requests.

Other designees:

COUNTY OF HAWAII POLICE DEPARTMENT:  Harry S. Kubojiri, Police Chief.

COUNTY OF HAWAII PROSECUTING ATTORNEY:  Mitchell D. Roth, Prosecuting Attorney, Dale Ross, First Deputy Prosecuting Attorney.

COUNTY OF KAUAI POLICE DEPARTMENT:  Darryl D. Perry, Police Chief, Mark N. Begley, Deputy Chief of Police.

COUNTY OF KAUAI PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Justin F. Kollar, Prosecuting Attorney.

COUNTY OF MAUI POLICE DEPARTMENT:   Gary A. Yabuta, Chief of Police.

HONOLULU POLICE DEPARTMENT:  Mark Nakagawa, Assistant Chief, Administrative Bureau or William Axt, Major, Finance Division or Craig Uehira, Captain, Finance Division

STATE OF HAWAII, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY:  Ted Sakai,  Director.