"Drug Buy" fund for under cover purchases. Does the Uniform Controlled Substances Act authorize the establishment of a "drug buy" fund from money confiscated under the act? 5-64-505 Yes. Drugs, narcotics

STATE OF ARKANSAS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL JUSTICE BUILDING, LITTLE ROCK 72201 STEVE CLARK (501) 371-2007 ATTORNEY GENERAL March 5, 1985 Opinion Mo. 85-74 Honorable Wayne Matthews Prosecuting Attorney Jefferson County Courthouse P., O. Box 8051 Pine Bluff, Arkansas 71611 Dear Mr. Matthews: This is written in response to Mr. Dalrymple's request for an opinion regarding the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. In particular you questioned whether the Act permitted the establishment of a "drug buy fund" from money confiscated under the provisions of the Act. Subsection (a)(6} of Ark. Stat. Ann. §82-2629 (Supp. 1983) permits the forfeiture of all proceeds, moneys, negotiable instruments and securities used, or intended to be used, in exhange for controlled or counterfeit substances in violation of the Act. The Act further provides in subsection (e): When the circuit court having jurisdiction over the property seized finds upon a hearing by a preponderance of the evidence that grounds for a forfeiture exist under this Act, the Court shall enter an appyopriate order. The Court may: (1) permit the proper law enforcement agency or the Prosecuting Attorney for the Judicial District in whigh the property was seized to retain the proparty for efficial use; We interpret a "drug buy fund" to be a pool of previously confiscated moneys which are held and used periodically to equip an officer or informant for the purpose of making a controlled buy of contraband. Such buys are made to establish the reliability of the informant and/or to obtain evidence against a defendant to be used in obtaining a conviction for possession or sale of controlled substances. We, therefore, deem the establishment of a “drug buy fund" to be an official use of the moneys previously seized. Honorable Wayne Matthews March 5, 1985 Page 2 The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by Assistant Attorney General Joyce Rayburn Greene. . Singerely, Attorney General SC: dG:jh cc: Stevan B. Dalrymple