With regards to point 2, at the federal level things do seem to work very differently.  Here is a flowchart outlining the steps you would have to take to reclaim your assets from federal forfeiture:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;reason.com&#x2F;assets&#x2F;mc&#x2F;2015_06&#x2F;forfeitchart.jpg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;reason.com&#x2F;assets&#x2F;mc&#x2F;2015_06&#x2F;forfeitchart.jpg</a><p>Regarding point 3, part of the problem, too, is that the federal government engages in sharing programs with local agencies.  So if most of the money from a local-level forfeiture does not go back to the agency, the agency has a strong incentive to bring the feds into it because then they will keep a considerably larger fraction of the proceeds.