In cases where administrative forfeiture is possible under 19 U.S.C. section 1607, but the Government has elected for whatever reason to by-pass the administrative forfeiture process, the U.S. Attorney should file a civil or criminal action for the forfeiture of the property within 150 days of the seizure of the property. This reflects the total time that the Government would have had to commence such an action if the Government had chosen to proceed in the normal way: 60 days for the commencement of a administrative forfeiture proceeding plus 90 days to file a civil forfeiture complaint or to include the property in a criminal indictment. By following this policy, the prosecutor will thus deflect any concern that the Government by-passed the administrative forfeiture process to circumvent the CAFRA deadlines.

This policy applies only in cases where the U.S. Attorney, in consultation with the seizing agency, affirmatively decided at the outset of a case that the forfeiture of the seized property would be done judicially in the first instance. It does not apply to cases where the seizure should have been handled as a routine administrative forfeiture to which the 60 or 90-day deadlines in section 983(a)(1)(A) apply, but where the notice was not sent due to inadvertence or error. The policy regarding the handling of forfeitures in that situation is set forth in 9-112.210.

In cases where administrative forfeiture is barred by section 1607, it is not necessary to establish a fixed deadline for commencing a judicial forfeiture action based on the date of the seizure. Congress set no deadline in this instance, and it is not necessary for the Government to adopt one. But the Government should not be free to ignore indefinitely a request made by a potential claimant for the release of his property or for the commencement of formal judicial proceedings. Accordingly, in a case where the U.S. Attorney receives a such a request in writing, the prosecutor should treat the request as if it were a "claim" referred to in section 983(a)(3)(A), and should thus commence a judicial forfeiture action within 90 days of the receipt of the request.

Nothing in this policy should be interpreted to allow a potential claimant to shorten the deadline for commencing an administrative forfeiture in a case where administrative forfeiture is authorized. In all events, in such cases the seizing agency will have 60 days (or 90 days in the case of adoptive forfeitures) to determine whether or not to proceed with the forfeiture proceeding. For additional information on this topic, see Chapter 2 of the Asset Forfeiture Policy Manual ("Policy on the Deadline for Filing a Civil Forfeiture Action in Cases that do not Begin as Administrative Forfeiture Proceedings").

[new May 2010]