Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Paragraph (a) of section 47 of chapter 94C of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 1 of chapter 132 of the acts of 1982, is hereby further amended by inserting after subparagraph (6) the following subparagraph:-

(6A) Real estate which has been proven to have been in the possession or ownership of the person and used in the furtherance of illegal drug activity by such person; provided, however, that such real estate is not the principal domicile inhabited by the immediate family of any person convicted under this chapter.

SECTION 2. Paragraph (d) of said section 47 of said chapter 94C, as amended by section 3 of chapter 556 of the acts of 1977, is hereby further amended by striking out the last sentence and inserting in place thereof the following four sentences:- Said proceeds once acquired shall be distributed equally between the prosecuting district attorney or attorney general and the city, town, state or metropolitan district police department. If more than one department is substantially involved in the seizure, the court having jurisdiction over the forfeiture proceedings, shall equitably distribute the fifty per cent among those departments. All such funds shall be deposited in a special law enforcement trust fund and shall be expended to defray the costs of protracted investigations, to provide additional technical equipment or expertise, to provide matching funds to obtain federal grants or for such other law enforcement purposes as the chief of police of such city or town, the commissioner of public safety, or the superintendent of the metropolitan district police deems appropriate, but such funds shall not be considered a source of revenue to meet the operating needs of such department. The reasonable expenses of the forfeiture proceedings and the balance thereof shall be deposited in said law enforcement trust fund.