What Can Asset Forfeiture Funds Be Used For?

Asset forfeiture funds can be used for a defined list of law enforcement purposes tied to the forfeiture itself: storing and disposing of seized property, reimbursing the agencies that worked the case, buying investigative equipment and vehicles, training personnel, paying informants, satisfying valid liens and mortgages on forfeited property, compensating victims through remission, and sharing proceeds with cooperating state and local agencies. The DOJ’s Assets Forfeiture Fund alone took in roughly $2.3 billion in fiscal year 2025.¹ Everything that money pays for has to fit one of the categories Congress wrote into statute.

Authorized Uses of the DOJ Assets Forfeiture Fund

The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 created the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund to hold proceeds from forfeitures carried out by DOJ agencies like the FBI, DEA, and ATF.² Under 28 U.S.C. § 524(c), the Attorney General can draw from the fund without fiscal year limits, but only for the purposes Congress listed:³

Storing, securing, maintaining, advertising, and selling seized property, including hiring outside contractors to manage or dispose of assets.
Reimbursing federal agencies for investigative costs that led to the seizure.
Purchasing or leasing data processing systems when a majority of their use relates to forfeiture work, and outfitting government vehicles for law enforcement.
Training federal personnel and contractors who handle forfeiture functions, plus related printing costs.
Paying awards for information or assistance related to drug crimes, money laundering, and certain financial reporting violations.
Paying off valid liens and mortgages against forfeited property, with the Attorney General deciding validity and amount.
Making remission and mitigation disbursements to victims and innocent owners.
Transferring a share of proceeds to cooperating state, local, and tribal agencies through equitable sharing.

What is not on that list matters just as much. Routine salaries, general office overhead, and spending unconnected to forfeiture operations are not authorized. The statute’s enumeration is the ceiling. If a proposed expenditure doesn’t fit one of the listed categories, the fund can’t pay for it.³

The Treasury Forfeiture Fund

A parallel fund serves Treasury Department law enforcement, including Customs and Border Protection, the Secret Service, and IRS Criminal Investigation. Under 31 U.S.C. § 9705, the Treasury Forfeiture Fund covers most of the same categories as the DOJ fund: seizure and disposal expenses, informant awards, liens and mortgages, remission payments, and equitable sharing with other agencies.⁴

One notable difference. The Treasury fund authorizes payment of overtime salaries for law enforcement employees directly involved in forfeiture operations. The DOJ fund does not explicitly cover that.⁴ Otherwise the principle is identical: the money has to go toward forfeiture-related law enforcement purposes, not general government spending.

What State and Local Agencies Can Spend Equitable Sharing Funds On

When state or local police help with a federal investigation that leads to a forfeiture, the Equitable Sharing Program lets federal agencies share proceeds with those cooperating agencies.⁵ The money starts in the federal funds and lands in a local account, but federal spending rules follow it.

The overriding requirement is that shared funds must supplement a department’s existing budget, not replace it. A police department can’t use shared dollars to cover line items the city council already funded.⁵ Within that limit, the joint DOJ-Treasury guide allows:⁶

Operations and investigations, including informant payments, evidence purchases, buy-back programs, crime tip organization dues, and recruitment costs.
Training in narcotics enforcement, forensics, constitutional law, accounting, and other topics tied directly to an officer’s duties.
Purchasing, leasing, building, or improving law enforcement and detention facilities, including undercover operation sites.
Equipment such as vehicles, body armor, firearms, radios, computers, surveillance gear, fitness equipment, and office supplies for law enforcement use.
Joint public safety operations with shared-use equipment like 911 call center systems, search and rescue boats, and defibrillators.
Contract services including translation, staffing studies, auditors, and subject-matter experts supporting law enforcement.

Each participating agency has to file an Equitable Sharing Agreement and Certification every year reporting how much it received and how those dollars broke down by category.⁷ The DOJ’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section reviews those filings, and an agency that misuses funds can be suspended from the program.

Payments to Victims, Lienholders, and Mortgage Holders

Not every forfeiture dollar stays in government hands. Returning assets to victims is a stated goal of the federal forfeiture system.⁸ Under 18 U.S.C. § 981(e)(6), officials can direct forfeited property to be restored to victims of the offense that triggered the forfeiture, including victims of the underlying crime in money laundering cases.⁹ In practice, forfeited funds can also satisfy a restitution order entered under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, with the government using seized proceeds to pay what the defendant owes.¹⁰

Federal forfeiture funds also pay valid liens and mortgages against seized property. If you hold a recorded mortgage on a house that gets forfeited, the government must address that interest before distributing remaining proceeds. Unsecured creditors do not get the same protection. The statute authorizes payments to lienholders and mortgage holders specifically, not general creditors.³ If you loaned money to someone whose assets were seized and you have no security interest, that distinction matters a great deal.

Donations of Forfeited Property Through Operation Goodwill

The U.S. Marshals Service runs a program called Operation Goodwill, which transfers forfeited property of marginal resale value to state and local governments or nonprofits. Those transfers support drug abuse treatment, crime prevention and education, housing, job skills training, and other community-based public health programs.¹¹ Property that wouldn’t bring much at auction can still be useful when donated to a rehabilitation facility or a job training center.

When State Forfeiture Laws Apply Instead

Everything above governs money moving through federal forfeiture funds or federal equitable sharing. When a forfeiture happens entirely under state law without federal involvement, federal spending rules don’t apply. State legislatures set their own allocation formulas, and those vary considerably. Many states direct a share of proceeds to purposes outside traditional policing, including drug treatment and prevention programs, public education, victim services, or community safety initiatives. Some states funnel most proceeds back to the seizing agency. Others split funds among law enforcement, prosecutors’ offices, school districts, and general revenue. The practical takeaway for any specific state: read that state’s forfeiture statute, because the allocation rules shape how aggressively local agencies pursue forfeitures.

Oversight That Keeps Spending Inside the Lines

The categories above are enforceable, not aspirational. The Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 requires regular audits of the Assets Forfeiture Fund by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General, which contracts with an independent accounting firm to examine the fund’s financial statements each year, evaluate internal controls, and report on compliance with federal financial management laws.¹² Audit findings are categorized as new, repeat, or updated, and the OIG tracks whether prior corrective actions were actually implemented.

On the equitable sharing side, the annual certification filings go through a dedicated tracking system at the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section.⁷ Agencies that fail to comply or misuse funds can be suspended entirely, cutting off access to shared proceeds. These mechanisms don’t eliminate abuse, but they do create a paper trail that auditors and journalists can follow when spending decisions look questionable.

1
Department of Justice. Total Receipts and Expenses
2
Department of Justice. Assets Forfeiture Fund
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 524 – Availability of Appropriations
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 USC 9705 – Department of the Treasury Forfeiture Fund
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U.S. Department of Justice. Equitable Sharing Program
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U.S. Department of the Treasury. Guide to Equitable Sharing for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies
7
Department of Justice. Equitable Sharing Agreement and Certification
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Department of Justice. Types of Federal Forfeiture
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 981 – Civil Forfeiture
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 3663A – Mandatory Restitution to Victims of Certain Crimes
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U.S. Marshals Service. Asset Forfeiture
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Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Justice. Audit of the Assets Forfeiture Fund and Seized Asset Deposit Fund Annual Financial Statements Fiscal Year 2025