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90_SB1292
New Act
Creates the Museum Disposition of Property Act. Sets
forth procedures for the disposition of property that has
been loaned to a museum and other property that is in a
museum's possession and for the determination of ownership of
the property under specified circumstances. Provides that the
term "museum" includes historical societies, historic sites,
landmarks, parks, archives, monuments, botanical gardens,
arboreta, zoos, nature centers, planetaria, aquaria,
libraries, technology centers, and art, history, science, and
natural history museums. Effective January 1, 1999.
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1 AN ACT in relation to certain property held by museums.
2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
4 Section 1. Short Title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Museum Disposition of Property Act.
6 Section 5. Purposes. The purposes of this Act are to
7 establish the ownership of loaned property that has been
8 abandoned by the lender or undocumented property held by a
9 museum, to establish uniform procedures for the termination
10 of loans of property to museums, to allow museums to conserve
11 or dispose of loaned or undocumented property under certain
12 conditions, and to limit actions to recover loaned or
13 undocumented property.
14 Section 10. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the
15 context requires otherwise:
16 "Museum" means an institution or entity located in
17 Illinois that:
18 (i) is operated by a non-profit corporation, trust,
19 association, public agency, or educational institution;
20 (ii) is operated primarily for educational,
21 scientific, historic preservation, cultural, or aesthetic
22 purposes; and
23 (iii) owns, borrows, cares for, exhibits, studies,
24 archives, or catalogues property.
25 "Museum" includes, but is not limited to, historical
26 societies, historic sites, landmarks, parks, archives,
27 monuments, botanical gardens, arboreta, zoos, nature centers,
28 planetaria, aquaria, libraries, technology centers, and art,
29 history, science, and natural history museums.
30 "Property" means documents or tangible objects, animate
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1 or inanimate, in the custody of a museum.
2 "Person" means an individual, association, partnership,
3 corporation, trust, estate, or other entity having a legal
4 interest in property in the custody of a museum.
5 "Lender" means a person whose name appears on the records
6 of a museum as the person legally entitled to property held
7 by the museum.
8 "Claimant" means a person, other than the lender of
9 record, who claims to be legally entitled to, or who
10 establishes his or her legal entitlement to, property held by
11 the museum.
12 "Lender's or claimant's address" means a description of
13 the most recent location of a lender or claimant, as
14 indicated on the museum's records pertaining to the property
15 on loan from the lender or claimant, sufficient for the
16 purpose of delivering mail.
17 "Loan" means a deposit of property with a museum that is
18 not accompanied by a transfer of title to the property or
19 other evidence of donative intent; however, "loan" does not
20 include a consignment of property for sale.
21 "Permanent loan" means a loan of property to a museum for
22 an indefinite term.
23 "Undocumented property" means property:
24 (i) that is held by a museum;
25 (ii) that is assumed to be a gift to the museum;
26 and
27 (iii) whose ownership cannot be determined by
28 reference to the museum's records.
29 Section 15. Notice Requirements.
30 (a) In addition to any other information that may be
31 appropriate for a particular notice, all notices given under
32 this Act must contain the following information:
33 (1) the lender's or claimant's name, if known;
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1 (2) the lender's or claimant's address, if known;
2 (3) a brief description of the property on loan to
3 the museum;
4 (4) the date of the loan, if known, or the
5 approximate date the property came into the custody of
6 the museum;
7 (5) the name of the museum; and
8 (6) the name, address, and telephone number of the
9 appropriate museum official or office to be contacted
10 regarding the property.
11 (b) A notice mailed to a lender or claimant shall be
12 sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the
13 lender's or claimant's address. The notice shall be mailed on
14 a "restricted delivery" basis when the notice is directed to
15 a natural person. Notice is deemed given if the museum
16 receives, within 60 days of mailing the notice, a return
17 receipt showing delivery to the lender or claimant. The date
18 of a notice for purposes of this Act is deemed to be the date
19 of delivery to the person to whom it was sent.
20 (c) If notice is not given in accordance with subsection
21 (b) or if, after a diligent search of its records, a museum
22 does not know the identity of the lender or any claimant or
23 have the lender's or claimant's address, notice may be given
24 by publication, in which case notice shall be published:
25 (1) for at least once per week for 3 successive
26 weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county
27 or municipality in which the museum is located; and
28 (2) if the museum has in its records the lender's
29 or claimant's address, for at least once per week for 3
30 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in
31 the county or municipality in which the lender's or
32 claimant's address is located.
33 For purposes of this Act, the date of a notice given
34 under this subsection (c) shall be the date of the last
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1 published notice under either subdivision (1) or (2),
2 whichever is later.
3 Section 20. Conservation or Disposal of Loaned Property.
4 (a) Unless there is a written loan agreement to the
5 contrary, a museum may apply conservation measures to or
6 dispose of undocumented property or property on loan to the
7 museum without the lender's or claimant's permission or
8 formal notice if immediate action is required to protect the
9 property on loan or other property in the custody of the
10 museum, or because the property on loan has become a hazard
11 to the health and safety of the public or to the museum's
12 staff, and if one of the following applies:
13 (1) the property poses an immediate destructive
14 risk to the museum's staff or collection or the general
15 public, in which case the museum may dispose of the
16 property without delay and shall notify the lender of the
17 action taken within 30 days;
18 (2) the museum is unable to reach the lender or
19 claimant at the lender's or claimant's address or phone
20 number, if the action is to be taken within 30 days of
21 the time the museum determines the action is necessary;
22 or
23 (3) the museum contacts the lender and the lender
24 or claimant does not agree to the protective measures the
25 museum recommends and does not or is unable to terminate
26 the loan and collect the property within the time the
27 museum determines the action is necessary.
28 (b) Unless an agreement provides otherwise, a museum
29 that applies conservation measures to or disposes of loaned
30 property in accordance with subsection (a):
31 (1) acquires and may enforce a lien on the loaned
32 property in the amount of the costs incurred by the
33 museum; and
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1 (2) is not liable to the lender or claimant for
2 damage to, or loss of, the loaned property if the museum:
3 (A) had a reasonable belief at the time the
4 action was taken that the action was necessary to
5 protect the loaned property or other property in the
6 custody of the museum, or that the loaned property
7 was a hazard to the health and safety of the public
8 or to the museum's staff; and
9 (B) exercised reasonable care in choosing and
10 applying the conservation measures.
11 Section 30. Notice of Intent to Terminate a Loan;
12 Acquiring Title to Loaned Property.
13 (a) A museum may acquire title to loaned property
14 pursuant to this Section. A museum may give notice of the
15 museum's intent to terminate a loan of property at any time
16 if:
17 (1) the property was loaned to the museum for an
18 indefinite term; or
19 (2) the property was loaned to the museum for a
20 specified term, and that term has expired.
21 (b) A mailed notice of intent to terminate a loan shall
22 include a statement containing substantially the following
23 information:
24 "The records of (name of museum) indicate that you have
25 property on loan to it. The museum hereby terminates the
26 loan. If you desire to claim the property, you must contact
27 the museum, establish your ownership of the property, and
28 make arrangements to collect the property. If you fail to do
29 so within 90 days after the date of this notice, you will be
30 considered to have donated the property to the museum."
31 (c) If a lender or claimant does not respond to the
32 notice of intent to terminate the loan within 90 days from
33 the date of the notice, the museum acquires title to the
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1 property and may sell, dispose of, or retain the property.
2 (d) If a lender or claimant responds to the notice of
3 intent to terminate the loan within 90 days from the date of
4 the notice, but does not collect the property within 90 days
5 from the date of his or her response, and unless a loan
6 agreement provides otherwise, the museum may place the
7 property in storage and the museum acquires and may enforce a
8 lien on the property in the amount of the costs incurred. If
9 the lender or claimant fails to make arrangements to collect
10 the property after one year from the date of notice, the
11 museum acquires title to the property and may sell, dispose
12 of, or retain the property.
13 Section 35. Acquiring Title to Undocumented Property.
14 Property in the possession of a museum for which the museum
15 does not know the owner or have any reasonable means of
16 determining the owner becomes the property of the museum if
17 no person has claimed the property within 7 years after the
18 museum can document possession of the property. The museum
19 becomes the owner of the property on the day after the 7-year
20 period ends, free from all claims.
21 Section 40. Limitation on Actions Against Museums.
22 (a) No action shall be brought against a museum or its
23 employees, agents, officers, or trustees for damages because
24 of injury or damage to, or loss of, property loaned to the
25 museum more than 2 years after the date the museum gives the
26 lender or claimant notice of the damage or loss.
27 (b) No action shall be brought against a museum or its
28 employees, agents, officers, or trustees to recover loaned or
29 undocumented property more than 2 years after the date the
30 museum gives the lender or claimant notice of its intent to
31 terminate the loan or notice of the museum's assertion of
32 title to undocumented property.
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1 (c) No action shall be brought against a museum or its
2 employees, agents, officers, or trustees to recover loaned
3 property more than 2 years after the expiration date of the
4 last written contract between the lender or claimant and the
5 museum as evidenced by the museum's records.
6 (d) A lender or claimant is deemed to have donated
7 loaned property to a museum if the lender or claimant fails
8 to contact the museum and establish his or her claim to the
9 property to the satisfaction of the museum or fails to file
10 an action to recover the property on loan to the museum
11 within the period specified in subsections (b) and (c).
12 (e) A person who purchases property from a museum
13 acquires title to the property if the museum represents that
14 it has acquired title to the property pursuant to this Act.
15 (f) Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (e), a lender or
16 claimant who was not given notice of intent to terminate a
17 loan or notice of the museum's assertion of title to
18 undocumented property as prescribed herein, respectively, and
19 who proves that the museum received a satisfactory notice of
20 interest in the property, may recover the property or, if the
21 property has been disposed of, the reasonable value of the
22 property at the time the property was discarded. The amount
23 received by the museum upon a sale made in good faith of the
24 loaned property shall be regarded as the prima facie evidence
25 of that value, and in no event shall any recovery include
26 interest or an amount to compensate for currency devaluation
27 or inflation, or both.
28 (g) A museum is not liable at any time, in the absence
29 of a court order, for returning property to the original
30 lender, even if a claimant other than the lender of record
31 has filed a notice of interest in the property. If persons
32 claim competing interest in property in the custody of a
33 museum, the burden is upon the claimants to prove their
34 interest in an action in equity initiated by a claimant. A
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1 museum is not liable at any time for returning property to an
2 uncontested claimant who produces reasonable proof of
3 ownership.
4 Section 45. Obligations.
5 (a) Obligations of a museum.
6 (1) A museum holding loaned property on or after
7 the effective date of this Act shall notify the lender,
8 if known, by mail, of the provisions of this Act within
9 the term of the loan but not more than 5 years after the
10 effective date of this Act. A museum accepting a loan of
11 property on or after the effective date of this Act shall
12 inform the lender in writing at the time of the loan of
13 the provisions of this Act. A copy of this Act or a
14 citation to the provisions of this Act within the loan
15 agreement shall fulfill this obligation.
16 (2) A museum is responsible for notifying a lender
17 or claimant of the museum's change of address or
18 dissolution.
19 (3) A museum shall retain all written records
20 regarding property acquired under this Act for at least
21 10 years or until the dissolution of the museum,
22 whichever occurs earlier.
23 (b) Obligations of a lender or claimant.
24 (1) A lender or claimant is responsible for
25 notifying a museum of any change of address or change in
26 ownership of the loaned property.
27 (2) A lender or claimant may file with the museum a
28 written notice of interest in the property. A notice of
29 interest in the property shall:
30 (A) contain an adequate description of the
31 property to enable the museum to identify the
32 property;
33 (B) be accompanied by documentation sufficient
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1 to establish the lender or claimant as the owner of
2 the property; and
3 (C) be signed under penalty of perjury by the
4 lender or claimant, or by a person authorized to act
5 on behalf of the lender or claimant.
6 The filing of a notice of interest in the property
7 on loan to a museum does not validate or make enforceable
8 any claim which would be extinguished under the terms of
9 a written agreement, or which would otherwise be invalid
10 or unenforceable.
11 Section 50. Miscellaneous Provisions.
12 (a) This Act does not abrogate the rights and
13 obligations of a lender, claimant, or museum identified in a
14 written agreement.
15 (b) This Act applies to all property held by or in the
16 custody of a museum on or after the effective date of this
17 Act.
18 (c) This Act does not preclude a museum from availing
19 itself of any other statutory or judicial method of
20 establishing or perfecting title to property in the museum's
21 custody.
22 (d) If a museum's right under this Act is wrongfully
23 challenged, the museum shall have the right to recover its
24 costs and expenses and reasonable attorney's fees.
25 Section 999. Effective date. This Act takes effect on
26 January 1, 1999.