On October 12, 2004, Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Kym Worthy announced that she would aggressively pursue sanctions against motorists accused of driving drunk by seizing vehicles under MCL 257.625n, a provision of Michigan law that permits prosecutors to forfeit the vehicles of motorists convicted of repeat drunk driving offenses.  But what Prosecutor Worthy meant to say was that she would illegally place holds on vehicles before a conviction, refusing to permit towing agencies to release these vehicles until $900.00 was paid as ransom. Whether the motorist was charged or convicted was not Prosecutor Worthy's concern, so long as the funds were presented to her office as a certified check. 

According to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office website, "Any and all money raised from this program is distributed as mandated by the drunk driving statute." Through discovery and FOIA, I have found that this translates to "We split it even-Steven with the cops, 50/50." The website also states, "the OWI Vehicle Forfeiture Program has processed over 2,000 vehicles sending a message to vehicle owners and drivers that drunk driving is viewed as a serious offense by the Wayne County Prosecutors Office and law enforcement agencies." This is a bald-faced lie. More than 2,000 vehicles were seized and processed in the first six months after the program was enacted, but the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office has never made an accurate report to the Michigan State Police under the Uniform Forfeiture Reporting Act because their office does not include "settlements" in their reports. 

That was over 20 years ago, and I have fought the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office drunk driving forfeiture program for over two decades. It has been an absolute pleasure! 

Back in the day when I was a young defense attorney, Prosecutor Worthy had worked out a backroom deal to divvy up funds between her office and local police agencies to share in the forfeiture profits.  Police began to immediately and aggressively seize vehicles without court approval, demanding money. 

Every second or third OWI offense was accompanied by a vehicle seizure form filled out by the arresting officer, and the accused repeat drunk driving was required to pay $900.00 before the car could be released. The cash flowed like water from a hose, unless I was retained to defend the accused motorist. 

The policy behind OWI vehicle forfeitures is punitive. It is designed to punish the convicted repeat drunk driver when the trial court judge feels that it is an appropriate penalty. The penalty is not mandated but left up to the sound discretion of the trial court judge. Kym Worthy would waive this potential penalty if you paid her $900.00, even though she had no judicial authority to take away a judge's power. 

While cars were held hostage for days, weeks, or months, towing and storage bills mounted if someone tried to oppose the Wayne County Prosecutor's program. It was absurd. 

Over the years, I have had sanctions awarded, ordered tow yards to release vehicles without charge, and even had drunk driving charges dismissed based upon double jeopardy under the 5th Amendment. Nonetheless, the OWI Seizure Program continued, and it has been picked up by a number of jurisdictions, replicating the forms utilized by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. 

State lawmakers began to acknowledge widespread abuse of forfeiture laws through the dedicated reporting of folks like George Hunter from the Detroit News and Ross Jones from Channel 7 Action News, amongst others. Statutory reforms to forfeiture laws were enacted by Michigan lawmakers in 2015 and 2019, with credit due to former prosecutor Klint Kesto. Federal litigation by the Institute for Justice attacked the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office. Finally, after all these efforts, I was able to get an order from 21st District Court Judge Richard Hammer that nailed it: Kym Worthy had no authority to "negotiate" OWI vehicle forfeitures or any other penalty available to a judge as a matter of law regarding a convicted drunk driver. We do not divvy up potential punishments for drunk driving and take them off the board by paying off the prosecutor's office. 

MCL 257.625n and vehicle forfeitures for repeat drunk driving convictions remain completely legal, but OWI car seizures and the abusive practice of paying to get a vehicle released have been eliminated in Wayne County where the program originated. Nonetheless, these programs are still occurring around the state, utilizing the forms created by Kym Worthy's office. If you are provided with a "seizure" notice following an arrest for OWI 2nd or OWI 3rd accompanied by an offer to buy back your car to get the vehicle released, please do not hesitate to call me!