HB5904eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB5904 Engrossed LRB095 17875 AJO 45341 b

AN ACT concerning civil law.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act is amended by changing Section 17 as follows:

(765 ILCS 1025/17) (from Ch. 141, par. 117)

Sec. 17. (a) All abandoned property, other than money and that property exempted by paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (4), and (5) of this subsection, delivered to the State Treasurer under this Act shall be sold within a reasonable time to the highest bidder at public sale in whatever city in the State affords in his or her judgment the most favorable market for the property involved. The State Treasurer may decline the highest bid and reoffer the property for sale if he or she considers the price bid insufficient. The State Treasurer may group items for auction as "box lots" if the value of the individual items makes it impracticable to sell the items individually. He or she need not offer any property for sale, and may destroy or otherwise dispose of the property, if, in his or her opinion, the probable cost of sale exceeds the value of the property. Securities or commodities received by the Office of the State Treasurer may be sold by the State Treasurer through a broker or sales agent suitable for the sale of the type of securities or commodities being sold.

(1) Property which the State Treasurer determines may have historical value may be, at his or her discretion, loaned to a recognized exhibitor in the United States where it will be kept until such time as the State Treasurer orders it to be returned to his or her possession.

(2) Property returned to the State Treasurer shall be released to the rightful owner or otherwise disposed of in accordance with this Act. The State Treasurer shall keep identifying records of the property so loaned, the name of rightful owner and the owner's last known address, if available.

(3) The Treasurer, in cooperation with the Department of State Police, shall develop a procedure to determine whether a firearm delivered to the Treasurer under this Act has been stolen or used in the commission of a crime. The Department of State Police shall determine the appropriate disposition of a firearm that has been stolen or used in the commission of a crime. The Treasurer shall attempt to return a firearm that has not been stolen or used in the commission of a crime to the rightful owner, provided that the owner may lawfully possess the firearm as determined by the Department of State Police.

If the Treasurer is unable to return a firearm to its owner, the Treasurer shall transfer custody of the firearm to the Department of State Police. Legal title to a firearm transferred to the Department of State Police under this paragraph (3) is vested in the Department of State Police by operation of law:

(A) if the Treasurer cannot locate the owner of the firearm;

(B) if the owner of the firearm may not lawfully possess the firearm;

(C) if the owner does not respond to notice published under Section 12 of this Act; or

(D) if the owner responds to notice published under Section 12 and states that he or she no longer claims an interest in the firearm.

With respect to a firearm whose title is transferred to the Department of State Police under this paragraph (3), that Department may:

(i) retain the firearm for use by the crime laboratory system, for training purposes, or for any other application as deemed appropriate by the Department;

(ii) transfer the firearm to the Illinois State Museum if the firearm has historical value; or

(iii) destroy the firearm if it is not retained pursuant to subparagraph (i) or transferred pursuant to subparagraph (ii).

(4) If human remains are delivered to the Treasurer under this Act, the Treasurer shall deliver those human remains to the coroner of the county in which the human remains were abandoned for disposition under Section 3-3034 of the Counties Code. The only human remains that may be delivered to the Treasurer under this Act and that the Treasurer may receive are those that are reported and delivered as contents of a safe deposit box.

(5) If medals awarded to U.S. military personnel are delivered to the Treasurer under this Act, the Treasurer shall not offer those medals for sale or at public auction. The only medals that may be delivered to the Treasurer under this Act and that the Treasurer may receive are those that are reported and delivered as contents of a safe deposit box. Medals shall only be returned to the owner of the safe deposit box containing the medals or the heirs of that owner. This paragraph (5) may be referred to as Operation Search and Restore.

(b) Any sale held under this Section, except a sale of securities or commodities, shall be preceded by a single publication of notice thereof, at least 3 weeks in advance of sale in an English language newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property is to be sold. When property fails to sell and is offered again at a subsequent sale, no additional notice is required for the subsequent sale.

(c) The purchaser at any sale conducted by the State Treasurer pursuant to this Act shall receive title to the property purchased, free from all claims of the owner or prior holder thereof and of all persons claiming through or under them. The State Treasurer shall execute all documents necessary to complete the transfer of title.

(d) The Office of the State Treasurer is not liable for any reduction in the value of property caused by changing market conditions.

(Source: P.A. 94-422, eff. 8-2-05.)

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.