# Council passes updated forfeiture and RICO reimbursement rules, first unwinding a 1996 ordinance

## What happened
The council first voted 7-0 by roll call to set aside part of a 1996 county ordinance so it could adopt Ordinance 2026-3, a prosecutor's-office-sponsored update to the rules for reimbursing investigation and prosecution costs out of forfeiture (seizing money or property tied to a crime) and RICO (organized-crime) cases. Councilman Randy Gentry said the prosecutor's office told him the 1996 version had become void under a change in Indiana law, and flagged a possible wrinkle: putting seized money into one account instead of several could make it harder for the auditor's office to track which court-ordered share is which. This is the second time the council has taken up this ordinance, after introducing the same amendment on first reading a week earlier.

## The outcome
Passed 7-0 by roll call, after the council first voted 7-0 to set aside the 1996 ordinance it replaces.

## Sources
- [Motion to set aside Ordinance 96-2-1996, 1:14:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX727b7xcQA&t=4453)
- [Set-aside vote passes 7-0, 1:15:53](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX727b7xcQA&t=4553)
- ["The old ordinance became null and void," 1:17:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX727b7xcQA&t=4633)
- [Auditor's-office tracking concern, 1:18:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX727b7xcQA&t=4698)
- [Motion to approve Ordinance 2026-3, 1:19:47](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX727b7xcQA&t=4787)
- [Roll call passes 7-0, 1:19:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX727b7xcQA&t=4792)
- [First reading, Sept. 1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj9WTgXtkSw&t=10408)

*Also known as: forfeiture ordinance · RICO ordinance · Ordinance 96-2-1996 amendment · seized asset reimbursement rules*