LOC News
Oregon Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Local Agencies Use Of Civil Forfeiture
On November 21, 2024, the Oregon Supreme Court released their opinion regarding the case of Yamhill County v. Sublet and reversed and remanded the opinion back to the Oregon Court of Appeals. The plaintiff petitioned the court for reconsideration—a decision denied on March 6, 2025 rendering the November 21 decision as final.
This case was about the lawfulness of a local government to seize, and force an individual to forfeit, property connected to certain criminal conduct, through the judicial proceeding known as civil forfeiture. Local government agencies use civil forfeiture as a tool to eliminate the instrumentalities and fruits of criminal conduct within their communities.
The defendant appealed the civil forfeiture action against their real property seized in relation to a delivery of methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The legal argument at issue was whether the civil forfeiture actions under Oregon law place an owner of the property in “jeopardy” for purposes of the United States Fifth Amendment against “double jeopardy.” The Oregon Court of Appeals held that Ballot Measure 3, initiated by citizens in 2000, made civil forfeiture criminal in nature because it imposed procedural and substantive limits on its use. Because the court determined that civil forfeiture was criminal in nature, the court opined that a civil forfeiture proceeding which arises out of the same acts of a criminal proceeding would constitute double jeopardy.
The Oregon Supreme Court disagreed and held that the remarkably consistent theme over the last century was that in rem civil forfeiture is a remedial civil sanction and does not constitute punishment under the Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause and relied heavily on the legislative intent of the civil forfeiture law. The court concluded that the civil forfeiture scheme is neither punishment nor criminal for purposes of the Double Jeopardy Clause, as was the intention by the Legislature and as intended by the voter-approved Ballot Measure 3.
The LOC filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief in support of the city, along with the cities of Keizer, Salem, and Medford, as well as with the Association of Oregon Counties and the Oregon Narcotics Enforcement Association. The Oregon Department of Justice also filed an amicus curiae brief in support of the county. The LOC would like to thank the legal team at Capitol Legal Services for their excellent work representing the LOC in this matter.
Contact: Jayme Pierce, General Counsel - jpierce@orcities.org
Last Updated 3/14/25