Contraband Asset Forfeiture in Alachua County

Law enforcement agencies that seize property for forfeiture in Alachua County including:

• the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office
• the City of Gainesville Police Department
• the City of Alachua Police Department
• the City of High Springs Police Department
• the Florida Highway Patrol

Each law enforcement agency in Alachua County, FL, has a stated policy that prohibits biased policing in asset seizure and forfeiture efforts.

After the seizure, the agency have five days to serve you with a “notice of seizure” that gives you 15 days to demand an adversarial preliminary hearing (APH). The attorneys at Sammis Law Firm recommend filing that demand for APH. After it is received, the seizing agency only has 10 business days to schedule a hearing to determine whether there is probable cause of a nexus between the alleged crime and property seized.

Attorney for Contraband Asset Forfeiture in Alachua County, FL

If your property was seized for forfeiture in Gainesville or Alachua County, FL, seek out the services of an experienced asset forfeiture lawyer. During a free and confidential consultation, we can discuss the facts of your case including:

• who seized the property – a local, state, or federal agency;
• what type of property was seized – U.S. Currency, a vehicle, digital assets or real property;
• where the property was seized – from a home or business or at the roadside;
• when the property was seized and the deadlines that apply to file a claim or demand for an adversarial preliminary hearing;
• why the property was seized and the legal theory under which the seizing agency wants to proceed.

We can help you file a demand for an adversarial preliminary hearing (APH). At Sammis Law Firm, we have offices in Tampa, Clearwater, New Port Richey, and Winter Park. We represent clients in contraband asset forfeiture cases throughout Florida, including in Gainesville, and Alachua County, FL.

To discuss your case, call 813-250-0500.

Contraband Seizures for Forfeiture by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office

At the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, the Office of General Counsel provides legal advice and counsel to the Sheriff’s Office and conducts forfeiture litigation.

When it comes to seized vehicles, the sheriff’s office has a policy that vehicles towed to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office compound under the premise of being legally seized, but are later determined to be non-forfeiture vehicles, shall be disposed in the manner described for evidence vehicles. The policy states that the Sheriff will remit no fees until vehicle status is determined. The Sheriff will notify the contractor via the Sheriff’s Office Vehicle Impound Sheet if a hold is to be placed on any vehicle. As per Florida Statute 323.001, this hold is to be limited to five (5) days, 10 excluding holidays and weekends. The hold may be extended but only if the Sheriff notifies the contractor, in writing, within this five-day period, that the hold is to be continued.

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office strategic plan for 2019-2024 included a goal of utilizing the Florida Contraband and Forfeiture Act to pursue seizure and forfeiture of assets used to aid and abet in the commission of felonies, transport contraband articles or which were obtained from the sale of controlled substances. The stated “ongoing measurement of accomplishment” was listed as “increasing the balance in state forfeiture fund.” Later that goal was updated with notations that the Domestic Highway Enforcement Unit had several seizures this year, one has resulted in a successful forfeiture, and the other two are still pending. Deleting the goal was discussed since the “2016 changes, state forfeitures have been drastically reduced – it’s not the tool that it used to be.”

The goal was deleted for the stategic plan for 2020-2025 now, which now only mentions the word forfeiture one time when it provides: “Equipment needs will continue to be explored for alternative funding sources (i.e., federal forfeiture funds, grant funding, etc.).”

What are Forfeiture Funds Used for in Alachua County, FL?

The Gainesville Police Department has considerable control over asset forfeiture funds. Using forfeiture funds in 1998, Chief Shinnamon created the Gainesville Police Department Mounted Unit consisting of three trained police horses, a stable, an annex building and hitching post. The Gainesville Police Department once purchased a helicopter through asset forfeiture funds.

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office claims that forfeiture funds were used to train deputies in the use of new emergency trauma kits. The agency claimed that within 24 hours of the training, one life was saved after a severe traffic crash severed a man‘s leg.

For example, in 2022, the City of Alachua passed Resolution 22-15 which approved the use of $9,687.00 in forfeiture funds for the purchase of Power FTO and Power Policy Software for the training of new officers and administration of internal policies and procedures at the City of Alachua Police Department.

This article was last updated on Friday, September 4, 2026.