S263Referred to Committee

FAIR Act of 2025

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Introduced
In Committee
3
Passed One Chamber
4
Passed Both
5
Signed into Law
119th
Congress
2025-01-27
Introduced
8
Cosponsors
S
ⓘ
Type

Sponsor

Rand Paul
Rand Paul
Republican · KY · Senator
Votes with party: 67.0% (818 recorded votes)
Top industries funding sponsor:
  • Conservative Groups$473k

Full profile: /officials/P000603

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (8)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

2025-01-27

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

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Plain-English Summary

Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration Act of 2025 or the FAIR Act of 2025 This bill establishes more stringent requirements for the federal government with respect to civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture generally refers to the seizure and forfeiture of property in connection with federal crimes. Specifically, the bill makes various changes to the general rules governing civil forfeiture proceedings. Among the changes, the bill generally requires the government to notify interested parties within 7 days (currently, 60 days) of a seizure, requires an indigent property owner to be represented by counsel regardless of whether the owner requests counsel, requires the government to meet a higher evidentiary standard in order to prove that seized property is connected to a crime, and expands the factors courts must consider in determining whether a forfeiture of property is constitutionally excessive. Additionally, the bill eliminates statutory authority for equitable sharing (i.e., sharing of federally forfeited assets with state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies that participate in law enforcement efforts resulting in a forfeiture). It directs forfeiture proceeds to be deposited into the general fund of the Treasury instead of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Assets Forfeiture Fund. The bill requires a prompt probable cause hearing following the seizure of money involved in a structuring offense (i.e., structuring currency transactions to evade currency reporting requirements). Finally, the bill requires the annual report on deposits to the DOJ Assets Forfeiture Fund to specify total deposits from each type of forfeiture.

Plain-English rewrite of the Congressional Research Service summary published on Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed.

Subjects

Crime and Law Enforcement
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