Consider Memorandum of Understanding and Agreement for Federal Equitable Sharing for the Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force (DTF)
 

   The purpose of this section of the MOU is to designate the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office as the fiduciary agency for the Task Force.  The Anoka County Sheriff’s Office agrees to submit sharing requests for all seizures involving the Task Force.  All Task Force member agencies agree and understand that all sharing will be awarded to the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office and all sharing funds will be retained by the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office for Task Force expenses.
 
   The Task Force understands that for the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office to receive shared funds, they must be compliant with Program guidelines and reporting requirements.  The Agency Head of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office and the Anoka County Administrator must annually sign the Equitable Sharing Agreement and Certification (ESAC) report.  By signing and submitting the ESAC report, the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office and its jurisdiction agree to abide by all policies set forth in the current Guide to Equitable Sharing for State and Local Law Enforcement Agencies and all subsequent updates.

The Task Force oversight committee met in October 2018 and unanimously supported the MOU.  It was agreed that all Task Force member agencies would bring MOU back to their city councils & county board for consideration.

See the attached document for further details.

This change will take effect once signed, and continue as practice moving forward in the Drug Task Force (DTF).

The Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force (Task Force) recognizes an ancillary benefit of asset forfeiture is the potential to share federal forfeiture proceeds with cooperating state and local law enforcement agencies through equitable sharing.  The Equitable Sharing Program (Program) enhances cooperation among federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement by providing valuable additional resources to each Task Force member agency.  Equitable sharing funds are designed to supplement and enhance, not supplant, appropriated agency resources.

   The Task Force understands that federal law authorizes the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury to share federally forfeited property with participating state and local law enforcement agencies.  The Task Force understands that the exercise of this authority is discretionary and limited by statute and sharing is not required in any case.  In addition, the Task Force understands that sharing is only available from net proceeds after recovery of government expenses and payment of victim compensation.  The amount shared for each asset will bear a reasonable relationship to the degree of direct participation of the Task Force as a whole and the decision maker will consider the sharing recommendations outlined in this section based on qualitative factors such as unique contributions and financial obligations of the Task Force.

Chief Jeff Katers - Chief of Police.
Captain Brad Bluml - Supervisor of Ramsey's Drug Task Force Investigator.

Staff recommends signing the Memorandum Of Understanding, as this will keep all the forfeiture funds consolidated to supplement the task force operations. This will also save staff time from having to manage a portion of these funds, conduct audits, and other record keeping, if each partner agency did this on their own.