Florida Statute 932.7055
“Disposition of liens and forfeited property”
What it means
Once property is forfeited, the agency may keep it for its own use, sell it at auction or by sealed bid, or transfer it to a public or nonprofit organization. Liens the court preserved come off the top — sold and paid, or satisfied first.
Sale proceeds run in a fixed order: preserved liens, then the agency's storage, maintenance, security, and forfeiture costs, then court costs. The remainder goes to the local law enforcement trust fund — for state agencies, the General Revenue Fund or a named trust fund. A city or county agency collecting at least $15,000 in a fiscal year must put no less than 25 percent toward drug treatment and education, crime prevention, or school resource programs.
- The agency may retain, sell, or transfer forfeited property; court-preserved liens must be satisfied first.
- Proceeds order: liens → agency costs → court costs, then the remainder to a trust fund or General Revenue.
- Local agencies collecting $15,000+ in a fiscal year must spend or donate at least 25% on drug and crime prevention programs.
- State agencies deposit remaining proceeds in the General Revenue Fund unless a statute names a trust fund — FDLE, state attorneys, school boards, universities.
- Interest earned by a trust fund carries the same restrictions as the proceeds themselves.
How it plays out
This section matters to estates mostly for what it forecloses: once a forfeiture judgment enters, proceeds are distributed under this formula and do not come back. The exception worth working early is the lien layer — a mortgage, a perfected security interest, or an interest the court preserved gets paid before any trust fund does. We inventory contested property at realistic value and treat preserved liens as the only recoverable piece once the merits are lost.