Judiciary I - Civil Law Committee

Filed: 2/25/2009

 

 


 

 


 
09600HB0265ham001 LRB096 03952 AJO 22126 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 265

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 265 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 5. The Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property
5 Act is amended by changing Section 17 as follows:
 
6     (765 ILCS 1025/17)  (from Ch. 141, par. 117)
7     Sec. 17. (a) All abandoned property, other than money and
8 that property exempted by paragraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), and
9 (5), and (6) of this subsection, delivered to the State
10 Treasurer under this Act shall be sold within a reasonable time
11 to the highest bidder at public sale in whatever city in the
12 State affords in his or her judgment the most favorable market
13 for the property involved. The State Treasurer may decline the
14 highest bid and reoffer the property for sale if he or she
15 considers the price bid insufficient. The State Treasurer may
16 group items for auction as "box lots" if the value of the

 

 

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1 individual items makes it impracticable to sell the items
2 individually. He or she need not offer any property for sale,
3 and may destroy or otherwise dispose of the property, if, in
4 his or her opinion, the probable cost of sale exceeds the value
5 of the property. Securities or commodities received by the
6 Office of the State Treasurer may be sold by the State
7 Treasurer through a broker or sales agent suitable for the sale
8 of the type of securities or commodities being sold.
9         (1) Property which the State Treasurer determines may
10     have historical value may be, at his or her discretion,
11     loaned to a recognized exhibitor in the United States where
12     it will be kept until such time as the State Treasurer
13     orders it to be returned to his or her possession.
14         (2) Property returned to the State Treasurer shall be
15     released to the rightful owner or otherwise disposed of in
16     accordance with this Act. The State Treasurer shall keep
17     identifying records of the property so loaned, the name of
18     rightful owner and the owner's last known address, if
19     available.
20         (3) The Treasurer, in cooperation with the Department
21     of State Police, shall develop a procedure to determine
22     whether a firearm delivered to the Treasurer under this Act
23     has been stolen or used in the commission of a crime. The
24     Department of State Police shall determine the appropriate
25     disposition of a firearm that has been stolen or used in
26     the commission of a crime. The Treasurer shall attempt to

 

 

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1     return a firearm that has not been stolen or used in the
2     commission of a crime to the rightful owner, provided that
3     the owner may lawfully possess the firearm as determined by
4     the Department of State Police.
5         If the Treasurer is unable to return a firearm to its
6     owner, the Treasurer shall transfer custody of the firearm
7     to the Department of State Police. Legal title to a firearm
8     transferred to the Department of State Police under this
9     paragraph (3) is vested in the Department of State Police
10     by operation of law:
11             (A) if the Treasurer cannot locate the owner of the
12         firearm;
13             (B) if the owner of the firearm may not lawfully
14         possess the firearm;
15             (C) if the owner does not respond to notice
16         published under Section 12 of this Act; or
17             (D) if the owner responds to notice published under
18         Section 12 and states that he or she no longer claims
19         an interest in the firearm.
20         With respect to a firearm whose title is transferred to
21     the Department of State Police under this paragraph (3),
22     that Department may:
23             (i) retain the firearm for use by the crime
24         laboratory system, for training purposes, or for any
25         other application as deemed appropriate by the
26         Department;

 

 

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1             (ii) transfer the firearm to the Illinois State
2         Museum if the firearm has historical value; or
3             (iii) destroy the firearm if it is not retained
4         pursuant to subparagraph (i) or transferred pursuant
5         to subparagraph (ii).
6         (4) If human remains are delivered to the Treasurer
7     under this Act, the Treasurer shall deliver those human
8     remains to the coroner of the county in which the human
9     remains were abandoned for disposition under Section
10     3-3034 of the Counties Code. The only human remains that
11     may be delivered to the Treasurer under this Act and that
12     the Treasurer may receive are those that are reported and
13     delivered as contents of a safe deposit box.
14         (5) If medals awarded to U.S. military personnel are
15     delivered to the Treasurer under this Act, the Treasurer
16     shall not offer those medals for sale or at public auction.
17     The only medals that may be delivered to the Treasurer
18     under this Act and that the Treasurer may receive are those
19     that are reported and delivered as contents of a safe
20     deposit box. Medals shall only be returned to the owner of
21     the safe deposit box containing the medals or the heirs of
22     that owner. This paragraph (5) may be referred to as
23     Operation Search and Restore.
24         (6) Property that may have been used in the commission
25     of a crime or that may assist in the investigation of a
26     crime, as determined after consulting standards developed

 

 

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1     by the Department of State Police, shall be delivered to
2     the Department of State Police or other appropriate law
3     enforcement authority to allow law enforcement to
4     determine whether a criminal investigation should take
5     place. Any such property delivered to a law enforcement
6     authority shall be held in accordance with existing
7     statutes and rules related to the gathering, retention, and
8     release of evidence.
9     (b) Any sale held under this Section, except a sale of
10 securities or commodities, shall be preceded by a single
11 publication of notice thereof, at least 3 weeks in advance of
12 sale in an English language newspaper of general circulation in
13 the county where the property is to be sold. When property
14 fails to sell and is offered again at a subsequent sale, no
15 additional notice is required for the subsequent sale.
16     (c) The purchaser at any sale conducted by the State
17 Treasurer pursuant to this Act shall receive title to the
18 property purchased, free from all claims of the owner or prior
19 holder thereof and of all persons claiming through or under
20 them. The State Treasurer shall execute all documents necessary
21 to complete the transfer of title.
22     (d) The Office of the State Treasurer is not liable for any
23 reduction in the value of property caused by changing market
24 conditions.
25 (Source: P.A. 94-422, eff. 8-2-05; 95-829, eff. 8-14-08.)".