HB 218: "An Act relating to property loaned to or held by museums."
00HOUSE BILL NO. 218 01 "An Act relating to property loaned to or held by museums." 02 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 * Section 1. AS 14.57.050(a) is amended to read: 04 (a) On recommendation of the committee, the department shall adopt 05 regulations governing the museum's in-house acquisitions committee, and the 06 management and disposition of artifacts, natural history specimens, art objects, 07 collections or other items, materials, or properties that are owned by, in the custody 08 of, or are proposed for acquisition by, the state museum. The regulations must be 09 consistent with AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 14.57 is amended by adding new sections to read: 11 Article 3. Property Held by Museums. 12 Sec. 14.57.200. Acquisition of title to loaned property. (a) A museum may 13 acquire the title to documented property loaned to the museum if 14 (1) at least seven years have passed after the expiration date of the loan
01 without written or other contact between the lender and the museum; or 02 (2) the loan does not have an expiration date, at least seven years have 03 passed since the loan was made, and at least seven years have passed without written 04 or other contact between the lender and the museum. 05 (b) To acquire title to property under this section, the museum shall first send 06 a notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the lender's last known address. 07 The notice must include 08 (1) a statement that the loan is terminated; 09 (2) a brief and general description of the property; 10 (3) the date or approximate date, if known, when the owner loaned the 11 property to the museum; 12 (4) the name and address of the museum representative to contact for 13 more information or to make a claim; 14 (5) the lender's name and last known address, if known; and 15 (6) a statement that the museum intends to claim title to the property 16 if a valid claim to the property is not made within 65 days from the notice date. 17 (c) If proof of delivery of the notice is not received within 30 days from the 18 date the notice was mailed, the museum shall publish a notice at least once a week for 19 four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district 20 where the museum is located and in 21 (1) the judicial district in which the lender's last known address is 22 located if the address is in this state; 23 (2) the county, borough, or other geographical organizational entity of 24 the jurisdiction in which the lender's last known address is located if the address is in 25 a jurisdiction other than this state. 26 (d) The notice published under (c) of this section must contain the information 27 required for the notice in (b)(1) - (5) of this section and a statement that the museum 28 intends to claim title to the loaned property if a valid claim to the property is not made 29 within 65 days from the date of the first publication of the notice. 30 (e) If the requirements of (b) - (d) are met without the museum receiving a 31 valid claim within 65 days after the notice date, the museum shall mail a notice by
01 certified mail, return receipt requested, to the lender's last known address. The notice 02 must provide 03 (1) a brief and general description of the property; 04 (2) the date or approximate date, if known, when the owner loaned the 05 property to the museum; 06 (3) a statement that the museum claims title to the property as of the 07 66th day after the notice date. 08 (f) If proof of delivery of the notice under (e) of this section is not received 09 by the museum within 30 days from the date the notice under (e) was mailed, the 10 museum shall publish a notice once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper 11 of general circulation in each of the judicial districts described in (c) of this section. 12 The notice must provide 13 (1) a brief and general description of the property; 14 (2) the date or approximate date, if known, when the owner loaned the 15 property to the museum; 16 (3) a statement that the museum claims title to the property as of the 17 66th day after the notice date. 18 (g) The museum receives the title to the property, subject to reclamation of the 19 property under AS 14.57.220, as of the 66th day after the notice date, if the 20 requirements of (a) - (f) of this section are satisfied, and if a valid claim to the loaned 21 property is not received by the museum within 65 days after the notice date. 22 (h) In this section, "notice date" means the date when the notice is mailed 23 under (b) of this section or, if publication is required under (c) of this section, when 24 the notice is first published under (c) of this section. 25 Sec. 14.57.210. Acquisition of title to undocumented property. (a) A 26 museum may acquire title to undocumented property held by a museum for seven 27 years or longer if the seven years are verified by the written records of the museum 28 and if, during the seven years, a person has not filed a claim with the museum for the 29 property or had written or other contact with the museum. 30 (b) To acquire title under (a) of this section, the museum shall first publish a 31 notice at least once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
01 circulation in the judicial district where the museum is located. The notice must 02 include 03 (1) a brief and general description of the property; 04 (2) the date or approximate date, if known, of the acquisition of the 05 property by the museum; 06 (3) the name and address of the museum representative to contact for 07 more information or to make a claim; and 08 (4) a statement that the museum intends to claim title to the property 09 if a valid claim to the property is not made within 65 days from the notice date. 10 (c) If a valid claim is not made within 65 days after the first publication of the 11 notice under (b) of this section, the museum shall publish a second notice once a week 12 for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district 13 where the museum is located. The notice must contain the information required for 14 the notice in (b)(1) - (3) of this section and a statement that the museum claims title 15 to the loaned property as of the 66th day after the notice date. 16 (d) The museum receives the title to the undocumented property, subject to 17 reclamation of the property under AS 14.57.220, as of the 66th day after the notice 18 date if the requirements of (a) - (c) of this section are satisfied and if a valid claim to 19 the property is not received by the museum within 65 days after the first date the 20 notice is published under (b) of this section. 21 (e) In this section, "notice date" means the first date the notice is published 22 under (b) of this section. 23 Sec. 14.57.220. Reclamation of property. After title to documented property 24 or undocumented property is transferred to a museum under AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290, 25 the lender or owner of the property has two years to bring an action in court against 26 the museum to claim the property. If an action is not brought by the end of this two- 27 year period and if the museum has taken its action under AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 in good 28 faith, a person does not have a claim to the property against the museum, the museum's 29 employees, or the museum's agents. 30 Sec. 14.57.230. Museum obligations regarding loaned property. (a) A 31 museum shall keep written records regarding loaned property for at least two years
01 from the date of taking title to the property under AS 14.57.210 or 14.57.220. 02 (b) A museum shall keep written records on all property it acquires by loan. 03 The records must contain the owner's name, address, and the telephone number, the 04 duration of the loan, and the beginning date of the loan period. 05 (c) A museum is responsible for notifying a lender of the museum's change 06 of location or elimination. 07 (d) At the time the museum enters into the loan, the museum shall inform the 08 lender of the requirements of AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290. 09 Sec. 14.57.240. Obligation of lenders. A lender shall notify the museum of 10 a change of address or a change in the ownership of the loaned property in order to 11 ensure the retention of rights to the loaned property. 12 Sec. 14.57.250. Relationship to other laws. If AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 13 conflict with another provision of state law, AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 govern to the 14 extent of the conflict. 15 Sec. 14.57.290. Definitions. In AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290, unless the context 16 indicates otherwise, 17 (1) "documented property" means property in the possession of a 18 museum for which the museum has a reasonable means of determining the owner; 19 (2) "lender" means a person whose name appears on the records of a 20 museum as the person legally entitled to the property held by the museum; 21 (3) "lender's last known address" means a description of the location 22 of the lender, as shown on a museum's records, that is sufficient for delivery by mail; 23 (4) "loan" or "loaned" means deposited with a museum but not 24 accompanied by a transfer of title to the museum; 25 (5) "museum" means an organized and permanent nonprofit or public 26 institution, including a historical society, historical park, historical site, and historical 27 monument, that is primarily educational, scientific, historical, artistic, or cultural in 28 purpose and that owns, borrows, cares for, studies, archives, or exhibits property; 29 (6) "property" means tangible animate or inanimate objects under a 30 museum's care that have intrinsic educational, scientific, historical, artistic, aesthetic, 31 or cultural value;
01 (7) "undocumented property" means property in the possession of a 02 museum for which the museum does not have a reasonable means of determining the 03 owner. 04 * Sec. 3. AS 34.45 is amended by adding a new section to read: 05 Sec. 34.45.085. Definition. In AS 34.45.010 and 34.45.020, "property" does 06 not include property covered by AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290. 07 * Sec. 4. AS 34.45.760(14) is amended to read: 08 (14) "property" means personal property , but does not include 09 property covered by AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 ;