CSHB 218(FIN): "An Act relating to property loaned to or held by museums."
00CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 218(FIN) 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 and at least seven years 03 have passed without written or other contact between the lender and the museum since 04 the loan was made. 05 (b) To acquire title to property under this section, the museum shall first send 06 a notice by certified mail to the lender's latest address if the museum has an address 07 for the lender. 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, address, and telephone number of the museum 13 representative to contact for more information or to make a claim; 14 (5) the lender's name and latest address; and 15 (6) a statement that outlines the schedule and requirements for the 16 museum to acquire title under this section. 17 (c) If a valid claim is not received by the museum within 30 days from the 18 date the notice was mailed under (b) of this section or if the museum does not have 19 an address for the lender, the museum shall publish a notice at least once a week for 20 four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district 21 where the museum is located and, if the museum has an address for the lender, in 22 (1) the judicial district in which the lender's latest address is located 23 if the address is in this state; or 24 (2) the county, borough, or other geographical organizational entity of 25 the jurisdiction in which the lender's latest address is located if the address is in a 26 jurisdiction other than this state. 27 (d) The notice published under (c) of this section must contain 28 (1) the information required for the notice in (b)(1) - (5) of this section; 29 (2) the date of the last publication of the notice under (c) of this 30 section; and 31 (3) a statement that the museum will acquire title to the loaned property
01 if a valid claim to the property is not received by the museum within 45 days from the 02 date of the last publication of the notice under (c) of this section. 03 (e) The museum acquires the title to the property, subject to reclamation of the 04 property under AS 14.57.220, as of the 46th day after the date of the last publication 05 of the notice under (c) of this section, if the requirements of (a) - (d) of this section 06 are satisfied and if a valid claim to the loaned property is not received by the museum 07 within 45 days after the date of the last publication of the notice under (c) of this 08 section. 09 (f) In this section, "address" means a description of the location of the lender, 10 as shown on a museum's records, that is sufficient for delivery by mail. 11 Sec. 14.57.210. Acquisition of title to undocumented property. (a) A 12 museum may acquire title to undocumented property held by a museum for seven 13 years or longer if the seven years are verified by the written records of the museum 14 and if, during the seven years, a person has not filed a claim with the museum for the 15 property or had written or other contact with the museum. 16 (b) To acquire title under (a) of this section, the museum shall publish a notice 17 at least once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation 18 in the judicial district where the museum is located. The notice must include 19 (1) a brief and general description of the property; 20 (2) the date or approximate date, if known, of the acquisition of the 21 property by the museum; 22 (3) the name, address, and telephone number of the museum 23 representative to contact for more information or to make a claim; 24 (4) the date of the last publication of the notice under this subsection; 25 and 26 (5) a statement that the museum will acquire title to the property if a 27 valid claim to the property is not received by the museum within 45 days from the 28 date of the last publication of the notice under this subsection. 29 (c) The museum acquires the title to the undocumented property, subject to 30 reclamation of the property under AS 14.57.220, as of the 46th day after the date of 31 the last publication of the notice under (b) of this section if the requirements of (a) and
01 (b) of this section are satisfied and if a valid claim to the property is not received by 02 the museum within 45 days after the date of the last publication of the notice under 03 (b) of this section. 04 Sec. 14.57.220. Reclamation of property. After title to documented property 05 or undocumented property is acquired by a museum under AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290, 06 the lender or owner of the property has two years to bring an action in court against 07 the museum to claim the property. If an action is not brought by the end of this two- 08 year period and if the museum has taken its action under AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 in good 09 faith, a person does not have a claim to the property against the museum, the museum's 10 employees, or the museum's agents. 11 Sec. 14.57.230. Museum obligations regarding loaned property. (a) A 12 museum shall keep written records regarding loaned property for at least two years 13 from the date of acquiring title to the property under AS 14.57.200 or 14.57.210. 14 (b) A museum shall keep written records on all property it acquires by loan. 15 The records must contain the owner's name, address, and the telephone number, the 16 duration of the loan, and the beginning date of the loan period. 17 (c) A museum is responsible for notifying a lender of the museum's change 18 of location or elimination. 19 (d) At the time the museum enters into the loan, the museum shall inform the 20 lender of the requirements of AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290. 21 Sec. 14.57.240. Obligation of lenders. A lender shall notify the museum of 22 a change of address or a change in the ownership of the loaned property in order to 23 ensure the retention of rights to the loaned property. 24 Sec. 14.57.250. Relationship to other laws. If AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 25 conflict with another provision of state law, AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 govern to the 26 extent of the conflict. 27 Sec. 14.57.290. Definitions. In AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290, unless the context 28 indicates otherwise, 29 (1) "documented property" means property in the possession of a 30 museum for which the museum has a reasonable means of determining the owner; 31 (2) "lender" means a person whose name appears on the records of a
01 museum as the person legally entitled to the property held by the museum; 02 (3) "loan" or "loaned" means a deposit with or deposited with a 03 museum if title to the property is not transferred to the museum or if the agreement 04 for the deposit does not include a provision that the museum acquires title at some 05 time after the deposit is made or an option for the museum to acquire title at some 06 time after the deposit is made; 07 (4) "museum" means an organized and permanent nonprofit or public 08 institution, including a historical society, historical park, historical site, and historical 09 monument, that is primarily educational, scientific, historical, artistic, or cultural in 10 purpose and that owns, borrows, cares for, studies, archives, or exhibits property; 11 (5) "property" means tangible animate or inanimate objects under a 12 museum's care that have intrinsic educational, scientific, historical, artistic, aesthetic, 13 or cultural value; 14 (6) "undocumented property" means property in the possession of a 15 museum for which the museum does not have a reasonable means of determining the 16 owner. 17 * Sec. 3. AS 34.45 is amended by adding a new section to read: 18 Sec. 34.45.085. Definition. In AS 34.45.010 and 34.45.020, "property" does 19 not include property covered by AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290. 20 * Sec. 4. AS 34.45.760(14) is amended to read: 21 (14) "property" means personal property , but does not include 22 property covered by AS 14.57.200 - 14.57.290 ;