Public Act 096-0440
 
HB0265 Enrolled LRB096 03952 AJO 13987 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), (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
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.
        (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
    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.)