Hutchinson ? The four-deputy sheriff’s department in western Kansas’ Clark County could soon be rife with cash after two traffic stops in just three weeks yielded nearly $50,000 in drug money.

If the department gets to keep the money, as expected, Sheriff Eric. S. Bates plans to spend the cash on “much-needed equipment that’s not in the budget.”

The department, like others across Kansas, gets to use drug money seizures on training or equipment for fighting drug-related crimes.

In Kingman County, drug money has paid for digital cameras, bulletproof vests and two car video cameras, Sheriff Randy Hill said.

In Pratt County, deputies also patrolling U.S. 54, have seized cash and vehicles valued at more than $100,000 over the past six years, Sheriff Vernon Chinn said. That money has paid for two off-road vehicles, laptop computers, night-vision glasses, weapons, a covert Global Positioning Satellite system, and a K-9 dog and training.

“It’s money that can’t be used to help the budget but can be used to buy special equipment,” Chinn said. “It gets us things the county can’t afford to do in the general fund.”

Kansas Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Kyle Smith headed the 1993 committee that set up the state law that allows for forfeiture of drug money. He said suspects want to distance themselves from both the money and the drugs.

“As a part of the act, if they file a claim they must state where they got the money under oath,” Smith said.

Because drug dealers don’t want to draw attention to themselves, law enforcement claims are rarely contested.

“It’s a nice windfall” for police departments, Smith said. The money is “gravy for additional training and equipment, things they couldn’t normally get.”

In Clark County, the same deputy is responsible for both seizures.

On Dec. 1, the deputy stopped two women in an older model car with an expired New Mexico tag and found $22,000 in the front seat console, along with five marijuana cigarettes.

On Dec. 21, the deputy flagged down a Ford Expedition on U.S. 54 with a brake light out and discovered $27,469 in a paper bag in the back seat. The driver admitted the money came from the proceeds of drug sales, but he said it wasn’t his.

Bates said suspects in both stops signed waivers that discounted any ties to the cash.

The department’s four deputies and five dispatchers are responsible for policing a 960-square-mile county with about 2,300 residents. The cash infusion would be significant in a department that had an operating budget of $350,000 in 2006.

“It’s in the bank and drawing interest every day,” he said.