Caroline Upthegrove (ORU)
On an early morning on Nov. 12, college students from all over Oklahoma gathered via zoom to debate the first bill of the day, OSU 518. Deirdre Harbison, a political science major from Oklahoma State, wrote the bill which revises civil asset forfeiture.
Civil asset forfeiture is the action of allowing law enforcement to seize whatever property is on a person if they are judged to be behaving unlawfully. Harbison’s bill, OSU 518, allocates funds from confiscated property to a General Revenue Fund (GRS). Harbison realized there was some corruption in Oklahoma’s civil asset forfeiture policy.
“In 2015, there was a prosecutor who used funds to pay off his student loans and for his rent.” Harbison described.
Unfortunately, there have been past instances where legal authorities have abused the policy of civil asset forfeiture. Harbison noted these and wrote the bill as an answer to past corruption. Bills play out differently in practice than in theory, and Harbison has a vision of how OSU 518 would play out.
“The bill would make it where everything (confiscated funds) goes directly toward the general revenue fund. It would reduce the amount of property seized.” Harbison answered.
The bill would not allow confiscated funds to go directly towards police departments. The Oklahoma Legislature would decide on where to allocate the GRS funds. Harbison’s bill had one friendly amendment, but other than that instance, the bill passed with successful results in the House. Harbison was pleased with the amendment and the representatives’ reactions to her bill.
“I was really happy when it passed. It was the first time my bill was featured. The feedback was positive from all the representatives. The questions were really thoughtful, and they kept me on my toes,” Harbison shared.
Harbison enjoyed the interactions with her fellow representatives and the feedback she received. Harbison has worked on campaigns with past politicians. In the future, Harbison desires a career in campaign consulting.