Equitable sharing refers to a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
program in which the proceeds of
liquidated
Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...
seized assets from
asset forfeiture
Asset forfeiture or asset seizure is a form of confiscation of assets by the authorities. In the United States, it is a type of criminal-justice financial obligation. It typically applies to the alleged proceeds or instruments of crime. This ...
are shared between
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* '' Our ...
and
federal law enforcement authorities. The
Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984
Comprehensive may refer to:
* Comprehensive layout, the page layout of a proposed design as initially presented by the designer to a client.
*Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged app ...
set up the arrangement in which state and local police can ''share'' the seizures with federal agents.
The law allows state and local law enforcement to retain up to 80% of the proceeds from seizures made in collaboration with federal agencies and from seized assets turned over to the federal government that the federal government then elects to adopt.
The program was intended to improve law enforcement by financially incentivizing collaboration between federal agencies and state and local agencies.
However, it has become controversial due to a perceived
conflict of interest. With Equitable Sharing, in cases involving
civil forfeiture
Asset forfeiture or asset seizure is a form of confiscation of assets by the government, authorities. In the United States, it is a type of Criminal justice financia