(A) The Village Council establishes a Law Enforcement Trust Fund. This fund shall be in the form of a checking account maintained at a chartered and insured banking institution. The Village Council further authorizes the acceptance of the proceeds of drug forfeitures as ordered by any court of competent jurisdiction, or as occurs under federal law and regulation, whether in the form of monies, personal property, or real property.
(B) Any monies forfeited to the village under Ohio R.C. § 2933.43 are to be placed in a the Law Enforcement Trust Fund, and the fund is to administered by the Village Auditor's office in accordance with the criteria set forth herein as well as those set forth in the applicable sections of the Ohio Revised Code. The Village Auditor shall promptly notify the Safety-Service Director of receipts destined for this fund, and shall provide the Safety-Service Director with written reports of the fund balance on no less than a monthly basis. Property that is required by law to be titled or registered shall be titled or registered to the village, and shall be retained for the exclusive use of the Police Department, unless sold by the terms set forth in division (D) below. The Village Council further directs that the use of the funds is to be subject to all requisition auditing procedures as required by the Ohio Revised Code, directive of the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, directive of the Ohio Attorney General, or directive of the Ohio State Auditor. The Village Council designates the Safety-Service Director as the recipient of all notices of pending forfeiture and other notices required to be given the village as they may pertain to the Law Enforcement Trust Fund.
(C) The persons authorized to requisition from the Special Fund shall be the Safety-Service Director and the Chief of Police, acting jointly. Any requisition not bearing both of these signatures shall not be honored.
(D) The Safety-Service Director is specifically empowered hereunder to dispose of any property, either by sale, abandonment or destruction, when the property has a fair market value at the date of its disposition equal to or less than $1,000. The Safety-Service Director shall apply to Council for permission to sell any property obtained by the Police Department under Ohio R.C. § 2933.43, should he or she determine such disposition to be preferable to destruction or retention and if the fair market value at the time of the disposition exceeds $1,000. The Village Council may require satisfactory showing that the monies to be obtained from the proposed sale will be of greater expedient to law enforcement than the property will be if retained. No weapon, dangerous ordnance, drug paraphernalia, or property that has been illegally modified shall be sold to the public hereunder. Such articles may be conveyed to other political subdivisions upon a showing that so doing will further law enforcement in this or any other jurisdiction. Notice of sale shall be given by two weeks newspaper ad, without appraisal, to highest bidder for cash, money order or certified check payable to the “Village of Lincoln Heights” only. Council may also direct that the notice and bid requirements be waived and the property be conveyed to another political subdivision, should that be recommended by the Safety-Service Director, or determined by the Village Council to be in the greatest public interest. The proceeds of any sale shall be administered as provided in division (E) below.
(E) Any cash ordered forfeited to the village, together with the proceeds of any sale hereunder are to be applied on a per case basis as follows:
(1) Payment of costs incurred in exacting the forfeiture;
(2) Payment toward the satisfaction of a valid lien held on the property by any person holding a valid and enforceable security interest, provided the lienholder was not on actual or constructive notice that the property was being used in violation of state, federal or local laws;
(3) Payment of seizing agency's costs in storage, maintenance, security and forfeiture of the property; and
(4) Deposit to the law enforcement trust fund.
(F) The fund shall be expended only to pay the costs of protracted or complex investigations or prosecutions, to provide matching funds to obtain federal grants to aid law enforcement, or for such other law enforcement purposes that the Village Council determines to be appropriate. The fund shall not be used to meet the operating costs of the village that are unrelated to law enforcement. In short, the, funds are to be disbursed only for the direct benefit of the Police Department.
(Ord. 91-O-4, passed 1-9-1991)