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ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 996 By: Jech of the Senate
and
Dobrinski of the House
An Act relating to museums; defining terms; providing
for acquisition of legal title to certain
undocumented property; providing for acquisition of
legal title of certain loaned property; requiring
furnishing of notice; requiring fulfillment of
certain obligations; establishing time limit to bring
certain action; providing for application of certain
conservation measures; limiting actions that may be
taken against a museum; providing recourse for
certain lenders following inadequate notice;
providing for ownership of certain property following
death of lender; providing for codification; and
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2001 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
As used in this act:
1. “Lender” means a person whose name appears in the records of
the museum as the person legally entitled to property held by or on
loan to the museum;
2. “Lender’s last known address” means a description of the
physical or mailing address of the lender, as shown on the museum’s
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records pertaining to the property on loan from the lender, which is
sufficient for the purpose of delivering mail;
3. “Loan”, “loaned”, and “on loan” mean all deposits of
property with a museum which are not accompanied by a transfer of
title to the property;
4. “Museum” means an organization which uses a professional
staff or the equivalent, whether paid or unpaid, that is primarily
engaged in the acquisition, care, and exhibition to the public of
objects, interactive displays, and exhibits owned or used by the
organization. Museums shall include organizations that:
a. are organized on a permanent or regular basis for
essentially educational or aesthetic purposes,
b. own or use tangible objects, either animate or
inanimate, care for such objects, and exhibit such
objects to the general public on a regular basis at or
in facilities owned or operated by such organizations,
and
c. provide educational and cultural programming;
5. “Person” means an individual, association, trust
partnership, corporation, or similar organization having a legal
interest in property in the possession of a museum;
6. “Property” means all tangible objects, animate and
inanimate, under a museum’s care which have intrinsic scientific,
historic, artistic, or cultural value; and
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7. “Undocumented property” means property in the possession of
a museum for which the museum cannot determine the person with legal
interest by referencing the museum’s records.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2002 of Title 60, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. A museum may acquire legal title to undocumented property
held by a museum for seven (7) years or longer, verifiable through
written records, if there is no valid claim or contact by any person
in the following manner:
1. The museum shall publish a notice by publication in a
newspaper of record in the county of the museum. This notice shall
include:
a. a brief and general description of the property,
b. the date or approximate date of the acquisition by the
museum, if known,
c. notice of the intent of the museum to claim title if
no valid claims are made within ninety (90) days from
the date of the second notice prescribed in paragraph
2 of this subsection, and
d. the name and address of the museum representative to
contact for more information or to make a claim; and
2. If no valid claim is made after the ninetieth day, the
museum shall publish a second notice by publication in the same
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manner as prescribed in paragraph 1 of this subsection and shall
include the same provisions.
B. If the ninety-day notice period prescribed in subparagraph c
of paragraph 1 of subsection A of this section lapses without
submission of a valid claim, clear and unrestricted title shall be
transferred to the museum as of the date described in subparagraph c
of paragraph 1 of subsection A of this section.
SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2003 of Title 53, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. A museum may acquire legal title to loaned property pursuant
to this section. Upon the expiration date of the loan, the museum
shall attempt to notify the lender in writing to return the loaned
property. If there is no written contact between the lender and the
museum for two (2) years following the expiration of the loan, the
museum shall send a notice by certified mail, return receipt
requested, to the lender’s last known address. The notice shall
contain a statement that the loan is now terminated as well as all
information required in the notice under paragraphs 1 and 2 of
subsection A of Section 2 of this act. Notice is deemed to be
provided if the museum receives proof of receipt within thirty (30)
days after mailing the notice. If proof of delivery of the notice
is not received within thirty (30) days from the date the notice was
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mailed, the museum shall publish a notice by publication in a
newspaper of record in the county of the museum.
B. If the requirements of subsection A of this section are met,
the museum may acquire title to the loaned property by sending a
notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the lender’s
last known address.
C. After title to the property is transferred to the museum,
any person having legal interest in the property shall have two (2)
years to bring an action against the museum to claim the property.
At the end of this two-year period, no action or proceeding may be
brought against the museum or its employees or agents by a lender
for any good-faith action taken by the museum pursuant to this
chapter.
D. In order to take title to a loaned property pursuant to this
act, a museum shall have the following obligations to a lender:
1. The museum shall keep written records regarding the property
for at least two (2) years prior to the date of taking title
pursuant to this section;
2. The museum shall keep written records on all loans acquired.
Records shall contain the owner’s name, address, phone number, the
duration of the loan period, beginning date of the loan period, and
an itemized list of property being loaned;
3. The museum shall notify a lender of property to the museum
of a museum’s change of address or dissolution;
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4. The museum shall inform a lender of property, at the time
the loan is made, of state laws governing unclaimed property; and
5. Upon expiration of the loan, the museum shall attempt to
contact the lender to return the loaned property by phone,
electronic mail, and by certified mail.
E. Any person who lends property to a museum shall notify the
museum of a change of address or of a change in ownership of the
loaned property to ensure the retention of rights to the loaned
property.
SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2004 of Title 53, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. Unless there is a written loan agreement to the contrary, a
museum may apply conservation measures to or dispose of property on
loan to the museum without a lender’s permission if immediate action
is required to protect the property on loan or to protect other
property in the custody of the museum, or the property on loan has
become a hazard to the health and safety of the public or of the
museum’s staff, and:
1. The museum cannot reach the lender at the lender’s last
known address of record so that the museum and the lender can
promptly agree on a solution; or
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2. The lender will not agree to the protective measures the
museum recommends and is unwilling or unable to terminate the loan
and retrieve the property.
B. If a museum applies conservation measures to or disposes of
property under subsection A of this section, the museum shall:
1. Have a lien on the property and on the proceeds from any
disposition of the property for the costs incurred by the museum;
and
2. Not be liable for injury to or loss of the property if the
museum:
a. had a reasonable belief at the time the action was
taken that the action was necessary to protect the
property on loan or other property in the custody of
the museum, or that the property on loan constituted a
hazard to the health and safety of the public or the
museum’s staff, and
b. exercised reasonable care in the choice and
application of the conservation measures.
C. A museum may apply conservation measures to or dispose of
undocumented property in the possession of the museum if immediate
action is required to protect the property or to protect other
property in the custody of the museum, or the property has become a
hazard to the health and safety of the public or of the museum’s
staff.
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D. If a museum applies conservation measures to or disposes of
undocumented property, the museum:
1. May impose a lien on the undocumented property and on the
proceeds from any disposition of the property for the costs incurred
by the museum; and
2. Is not liable for injury to or loss of the undocumented
property if the museum:
a. had a reasonable belief at the time the action was
taken that the action was necessary to protect the
property or other property in the custody of the
museum, or that the property constituted a hazard to
the health and safety of the public or the museum’s
staff, and
b. exercised reasonable care in the choice and
application of the conservation measures.
SECTION 5. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 2005 of Title 53, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. An action shall not be brought against a museum for damages
because of injury to or loss of property loaned to the museum more
than two (2) years from the date the museum gives the lender or
person with legal interest notice of the injury or loss or two (2)
years from the date of the injury or loss, whichever occurs earlier.
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B. An action shall not be brought against a museum to recover
property more than two (2) years after the date the museum gives the
lender or person with legal interest notice of its intent to acquire
the property.
C. An action shall not be brought against a museum to recover
property on loan more than two (2) years from the date of the last
written contact between the lender or person with legal interest and
the museum as evidenced by the museum’s records.
D. A lender is considered to have donated loaned property to
the museum if the lender fails to file an action to recover the
property on loan to the museum within the time periods specified in
subsections A through C of this section.
E. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections C and D of
this section, a lender who was not given notice as provided in this
act, and who proves that the museum received an adequate notice of
intent to preserve an interest in loaned property within the two (2)
years immediately preceding the filing of an action to recover the
property, may recover the property or, if the property has been
disposed of, the reasonable value of the property at the time it was
disposed of plus interest at the legal rate.
F. A museum is not liable at any time, in the absence of a
court order, for returning property to the original lender even if a
person other than the lender has filed a notice of intent to
preserve an interest in property. If a person claims competing
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interests in property in the possession of a museum, the burden is
upon the claimant to prove the interest in an action in equity
initiated by a claimant. A museum is not liable at any time for
returning property to an uncontested claimant who produced
reasonable proof of ownership or the existence of a security
interest.
G. Loaned property in the possession of a museum at the time of
the owner’s death, which would otherwise escheat to the state, shall
not escheat but shall be property of the museum to which it is
loaned.
SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
Passed the Senate the 10th day of March, 2025.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
Passed the House of Representatives the ____ day of __________,
2025.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives