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| 1 | AN ACT concerning civil law.
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| 2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | Section 5. The Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property | ||||||
| 5 | Act is amended by changing Section 17 as follows:
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| 6 | (765 ILCS 1025/17) (from Ch. 141, par. 117)
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| 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 | ||||||
| 17 | individual items makes it impracticable to sell the items
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| 18 | individually.
He or she need not offer any
property for sale, | ||||||
| 19 | and may destroy or otherwise dispose of the property, if, in
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| 20 | his or her opinion, the probable cost of sale exceeds the value | ||||||
| 21 | of the
property. Securities or commodities received by the | ||||||
| 22 | Office of the State
Treasurer may be sold by the State | ||||||
| 23 | Treasurer through a broker or sales agent
suitable for the sale | ||||||
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| 1 | of the type of securities or commodities being sold.
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| 2 | (1) Property which the State Treasurer determines may | ||||||
| 3 | have historical
value may be, at his or her discretion, | ||||||
| 4 | loaned to a recognized exhibitor in the
United States where | ||||||
| 5 | it will be kept until such time as the State Treasurer
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| 6 | orders it to be returned to his or her possession.
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| 7 | (2) Property returned to the State Treasurer shall be | ||||||
| 8 | released to the
rightful owner or otherwise disposed of in | ||||||
| 9 | accordance with this Act. The State
Treasurer shall keep | ||||||
| 10 | identifying records of the property so loaned, the name of
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| 11 | rightful owner and the owner's last known address, if | ||||||
| 12 | available.
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| 13 | (3) The Treasurer, in cooperation with the Department | ||||||
| 14 | of State Police,
shall
develop a procedure to determine | ||||||
| 15 | whether a firearm delivered
to the Treasurer under this Act | ||||||
| 16 | has been stolen or used in the commission of a
crime.
The | ||||||
| 17 | Department of State Police shall determine
the appropriate | ||||||
| 18 | disposition of a firearm that has been stolen or used in | ||||||
| 19 | the
commission of a crime. The Treasurer shall attempt to | ||||||
| 20 | return a firearm
that has not been stolen or used in the | ||||||
| 21 | commission of a crime to the rightful
owner,
provided that | ||||||
| 22 | the owner may lawfully possess the firearm as determined by | ||||||
| 23 | the
Department of State Police.
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| 24 | If the Treasurer is unable to return a firearm to its | ||||||
| 25 | owner, the
Treasurer
shall transfer custody of the firearm | ||||||
| 26 | to the Department of State
Police. Legal title to a firearm | ||||||
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| 1 | transferred to the Department of State Police
under this | ||||||
| 2 | paragraph (3) is vested in the Department of
State Police | ||||||
| 3 | by operation of law:
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| 4 | (A) if the Treasurer cannot locate the owner of the | ||||||
| 5 | firearm;
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| 6 | (B) if the owner of the firearm may not lawfully | ||||||
| 7 | possess the firearm;
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| 8 | (C) if the owner does not respond to notice | ||||||
| 9 | published under Section 12
of
this Act; or
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| 10 | (D) if the owner responds to notice published under | ||||||
| 11 | Section 12 and
states
that
he or she no longer claims | ||||||
| 12 | an interest in the
firearm.
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| 13 | With respect to a firearm whose title is transferred to | ||||||
| 14 | the Department of
State
Police under this paragraph (3), | ||||||
| 15 | that Department
may:
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| 16 | (i) retain the firearm for use by the crime | ||||||
| 17 | laboratory system, for
training
purposes, or for any | ||||||
| 18 | other application as deemed
appropriate by the | ||||||
| 19 | Department;
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| 20 | (ii) transfer the firearm to the Illinois State | ||||||
| 21 | Museum if the firearm
has
historical
value; or
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| 22 | (iii) destroy the firearm if it is not retained | ||||||
| 23 | pursuant to
subparagraph
(i)
or transferred
pursuant | ||||||
| 24 | to subparagraph (ii).
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| 25 | (4) If human remains are delivered to the Treasurer | ||||||
| 26 | under this Act, the Treasurer shall deliver those human | ||||||
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| 1 | remains to the coroner of the county in which the human | ||||||
| 2 | remains were abandoned for disposition under Section | ||||||
| 3 | 3-3034 of the Counties Code. The only human remains that | ||||||
| 4 | may be delivered to the Treasurer under this Act and that | ||||||
| 5 | the Treasurer may receive are those that are reported and | ||||||
| 6 | delivered as contents of a safe deposit box.
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| 7 | (5) If medals awarded to U.S. military personnel are | ||||||
| 8 | delivered to the Treasurer under this Act, the Treasurer | ||||||
| 9 | shall not offer those medals for sale or at public auction. | ||||||
| 10 | The only medals that may be delivered to the Treasurer | ||||||
| 11 | under this Act and that the Treasurer may receive are those | ||||||
| 12 | that are reported and delivered as contents of a safe | ||||||
| 13 | deposit box. Medals shall only be returned to the owner of | ||||||
| 14 | the safe deposit box containing the medals or the heirs of | ||||||
| 15 | that owner. This paragraph (5) may be referred to as | ||||||
| 16 | Operation Search and Restore. | ||||||
| 17 | (6) Property that may have been used in the commission | ||||||
| 18 | of a crime or that may assist in the investigation of a | ||||||
| 19 | crime, as determined after consulting standards developed | ||||||
| 20 | by the Department of State Police, may be transferred to | ||||||
| 21 | the Department of State Police or other appropriate law | ||||||
| 22 | enforcement authority, as determined by the Treasurer. | ||||||
| 23 | (b) Any sale held under this Section, except a sale of | ||||||
| 24 | securities or
commodities, shall be preceded by a single | ||||||
| 25 | publication of notice thereof, at
least 3 weeks in advance of | ||||||
| 26 | sale in an English language newspaper of general
circulation in | ||||||
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| 1 | the county where the property is to be sold.
When property | ||||||
| 2 | fails to sell and is offered again at a subsequent sale, no
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| 3 | additional notice is required for the subsequent sale.
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| 4 | (c) The purchaser at any sale conducted by the State | ||||||
| 5 | Treasurer pursuant to
this Act shall receive title to the | ||||||
| 6 | property purchased, free from all claims of
the owner or prior | ||||||
| 7 | holder thereof and of all persons claiming through or under
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| 8 | them. The State Treasurer shall execute all documents necessary | ||||||
| 9 | to complete the
transfer of title.
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| 10 | (d) The Office of the State Treasurer is not liable for any | ||||||
| 11 | reduction in the
value of property caused by changing market | ||||||
| 12 | conditions.
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| 13 | (Source: P.A. 94-422, eff. 8-2-05; 95-829, eff. 8-14-08.)
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