Public Act 094-0422
 
HB2689 Enrolled LRB094 06803 AJO 38017 b

    AN ACT concerning counties.
 
    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
 
    Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing Section
3-3034 as follows:
 
    (55 ILCS 5/3-3034)  (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3034)
    Sec. 3-3034. Disposition of body. After the inquest
inquisition the coroner may deliver the body or human remains
of the deceased to the family of the deceased or, if there are
no family members to accept the body or the remains, then to
his friends of the deceased, if there be any, but if not, the
coroner he shall cause the body or the remains him to be
decently buried, the expenses to be paid from the property of
the deceased, if there is sufficient, if not, by the county. If
the State Treasurer, pursuant to the Uniform Disposition of
Unclaimed Property Act, delivers human remains to the coroner,
the coroner shall cause the human remains to be disposed of as
provided in this Section.
(Source: P.A. 86-962.)
 
    Section 10. 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), and (3), and (4)
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.
    (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. 91-16, eff. 7-1-99; 91-748, eff. 6-2-00.)
 
    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.