Bill Text: IL HB0265 | 2009-2010 | 96th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Amends the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. Provides that if unclaimed property that may have been used in the commission of a crime or that may assist in the investigation of a crime is delivered to the Treasurer under this Act, the Treasurer after consulting standards developed by the Department of State Police, may transfer that property to the Department of State Police or to another appropriate law enforcement agency. Provides that any person or entity acting in accordance with these provisions has civil immunity from suit.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2009-08-14 - Public Act . . . . . . . . . 96-0440 [HB0265 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2009-HB0265-Enrolled.html

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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), (4), and
(5), and (6) 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

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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

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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

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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.
(6) Property that may have been used in the commission
of a crime or that may assist in the investigation of a
crime, as determined after consulting standards developed
by the Department of State Police, shall be delivered to
the Department of State Police or other appropriate law
enforcement authority to allow law enforcement to
determine whether a criminal investigation should take
place. Any such property delivered to a law enforcement
authority shall be held in accordance with existing
statutes and rules related to the gathering, retention, and

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release of evidence.
(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; 95-829, eff. 8-14-08.)