Just a few months ago, New Mexico passed a historic law ending civil asset forfeiture--the practice by which law enforcement can seize property without ever charging its owners with a crime. Before the law passed, officials could keep the profits to line their budgets. Now they actually have to convict someone of a crime before taking their property--and the profits go to the state's general fund.

The police are, predictably, not happy to be losing their cash cow.

Officers recently complained to the Farmington Daily Times that they're not sure how they will compensate for this blow to their coffers.

The Region II Narcotics Task Force, for example, once raked in an annual $100,000 in asset seizures--making up a quarter of their entire budget.

And not only will police not get to keep seizures--they'll also be financially responsible for storing or moving them.

"We're going to try not to seize," police Chief Steve Hebbe said.

As attempts at civil asset forfeiture reforms move through both local and federal offices, we can expect to see increasing objections from panicked police departments--according to the Heritage Foundation, some districts amass 20 percent of their funding through asset forfeiture.