Last August when Seward County Sheriff Mike Vance presented his Seward County Drug Interdiction Task Force’s annual Equitable Sharing Agreement and Certification (ESAC) report to the Seward County Board of Commissioners, it was not approved until November.
This year, the report was approved and signed as presented, which will enable Vance to submit the report to the two federal agencies that work with the Asset Forfeiture Program by their Aug. 30 deadline. The board requested one report change to label the 2027 sheriffs office budget amount of $1,240,467 as proposed because the county will not finalize its budget until the end of September.
Last year’s report was among the things that raised local questions about the Seward County Sheriff’s Office participation in the interdiction program with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Treasury, and the disclosure that the Justice Department had designated the Seward County program with a “do not spend” status due to questions raised in its federal audit.
Missing the report deadline then put the drug interdiction program out of compliance with both federal agencies.
The Seward County Drug Interdiction Task Force participates with state and federal agencies to seize funds and property during traffic stops due to suspected involvement in drug trafficking. In lieu of facing charges, suspects forfeit the assets to the arresting agency.
The county turns funds over to the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Justice and receives a portion of the funding back in periodic disbursements that can be used to augment the county’s law enforcement budget for specific expenditures for things like drug enforcement and school resource officer support. Funds cannot be used to supplant standard expenses of the department.
Many agencies engaged in forfeiture
According to the report form Vance receives, the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Program includes the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S Postal Inspection Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Diplomatic Security Service and the Food and Drug Administration.
The Treasury Department’s forfeiture program includes the Internal Revenue Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Patrol and the Secret Service.
The sheriff’s department is been in compliance with both departments as far as meeting the requirement to file an annual ESAC on time this year, but Vance told commissioners in recent budget meetings that he continues to work with the Justice Department to address its hold on the department’s expenditures and receipt of funds.
The now signed 2025-2026 ESAC for the sheriff’s department showed a $61,616 beginning balance in the county’s U.S. Justice Department fund and a total of $29,374 received during the year. Of that $47,051 was spent, leaving a balance of $43,939. Reimbursements of $8,882 were also reported, with $8,398 of that designated for a Nebraska Department of Transportation grant.
On the U.S. Treasury Department side, the county reported a 2026 fiscal year beginning balance of $23,307 with receipts of $1,047 and expenditures of $17,629. The ending balance was listed at $6,725.
Equipment part of expenditures
The bulk of the department’s 2026 expenditures from its Treasury fund was for law enforcement equipment, $22,674, law enforcement administrative costs, $15,148, and smaller expenditures for public safety and detention facilities, travel and per diem, training and education, and awards and memorials.
The Sheriff’s Department’s 2025 report showed $82,501 in Treasury Department funds received with $445,246 in expenditures, primarily for salaries, overtime and law enforcement equipment.
For the Justice Department fund’s 2025 receipts the report listed $485,553 received and $447,593 spent, with the bulk of the funds supporting law enforcement equipment.
The 2024 reports showed $737,729 in funds received and $1,083,850 in expenditures, with nearly half supporting salaries, and law enforcement equipment, and law enforcement, public safety and detention facilities accounting for most of the other half.
The department reported its $17,629 in expenditures from the Treasury Department funds were for the Drug Resistance Awareness Education (DARE) and School Resource Officer (SRO) salaries only.
The commissioners also approved the ESAC for Seward County Attorney Wendy Elston’s department for 2026. The county attorney’s forfeiture funds were not involved in the holds placed on spending last year.
The county attorney’s 2026 beginning Treasury fund balance was $268,582 with a total $12,245 in equitable sharing funds received. The ending balance was $280,807.
On the Justice side, the beginning balance was $109,817 with no additional deposits and expenses of $16,782. The ending balance was $93,035.
The expenditures listed were $16,182 for salaries for a federal task force replacement officer and $600 for law enforcement equipment.
