Court Opinion

ID: 7822406
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-09-07 17:59:18.141312+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T16:30:44.860676
License: Public Domain

John I. Purtle, Justice, concurring. I concur in the well reasoned majority opinion although I cannot agree with the dicta which states a $20 bill may be regarded as contraband. Ark. Stat. Ann. § 41-1401 (Repl. 1977) does not state money is contraband. It does state that contraband shall be destroyed or sold. It is illegal to destroy currency and if it were sold it would be sold in exchange for the same thing. I simply do not want to imply that we will or might in the future declare cash money to be contraband. It may, however, be confiscated under certain circumstances, such as here. No one is contesting the right of the state to keep the $20 bill.