The following procedures apply to settlement agreements in civil judicial forfeiture cases and to criminal forfeiture plea agreements where an administrative forfeiture is necessary to effectuate the agreement. In such cases, the headquarters of the seizing agency involved must be consulted by the United States Attorney's Office prior to finalizing an agreement in order to ensure the agency can accommodate the terms of the agreement. The Department's policy is to pursue an agreed upon administrative forfeiture where it is possible and economically efficient to do so. See Chapter 11 of the Asset Forfeiture Policy Manual ("Using Administrative Forfeiture to Achieve a Settlement").

[updated May 2010]