Unclaimed property/museums

AN ACT Relating to unclaimed property held by a museum or 1
historical society; and amending RCW 63.26.040. 2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 63.26.040 and 1988 c 226 s 6 are each amended to 4
read as follows: 5
(1) When a museum or historical society is required to give 6
notice of abandonment of property or of termination of a loan, the 7
museum or historical society shall ((mail such )) send an initial 8
notice by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the last known 9
owner at the most recent address of such owner as shown on the 10
museum's or society's records. If the museum or society has no 11
address on record, or the museum or society does not receive written 12
proof of receipt of the mailed notice within ((thirty)) 30 days of 13
the date the notice was mailed, the museum or society shall 14
((publish)) provide notice, at least once each week for ((two)) three 15
consecutive weeks, ((in a newspaper of general circulation in both 16
the county in which the museum is located and the county in which the 17
last known address, if available, of the owner is located )) using one 18
or more of the following methods:19
(a) Posting on a publicly accessible page on its official 20
website;21
H-0896.2
HOUSE BILL 1731
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representative Waters
Read first time 01/30/25. Referred to Committee on Civil Rights &
Judiciary.
p. 1 HB 1731
(b) Sending an email from an organizational email address to any 1
known email addresses of the owner or any publicized email lists;2
(c) Posting on the official social media accounts of the museum 3
or society;4
(d) Physically posting a notice in a public space at the museum's 5
or society's primary location, such as a lobby or other area 6
accessible to visitors;7
(e) Documenting a phone call attempt to any known phone numbers 8
of the owner; or9
(f) Any other electronic communication methods reasonably 10
expected to reach the owner or interested parties.11
(2) The ((published)) notice, whether digital or printed, shall 12
contain the following: 13
(a) A description of the unclaimed property; 14
(b) The name and last known address of the owner;15
(c) A request that all persons who may have any knowledge of the 16
whereabouts of the owner provide written notice to the museum or 17
society; and 18
(d) A statement that if written assertion of title is not 19
presented by the owner to the museum or society within ninety days 20
from the date of the second ((published)) notice, the property shall 21
be deemed abandoned or donated and shall become the property of the 22
museum or society. 23
(3) For purposes of this chapter, if the loan of property was 24
made to a branch of a museum or society, the museum or society is 25
deemed to be located in the county in which the branch is located. 26
Otherwise the museum or society is located in the county in which it 27
has its principal place of business. 28
(4)(a) When property is found in the collection of a museum or 29
historical society without donor documentation or when property is 30
abandoned at a museum or historical society without the donor's 31
identity being provided, the museum or historical society shall 32
follow a process to establish ownership of the property. The process 33
must include an unknown donor notification, where notice is given to 34
the public through at least one of the following methods:35
(i) Posting on a publicly accessible page on the museum's or 36
society's official website; or37
(ii) Physically posting a notice in a public space at the 38
museum's or society's primary location, such as a lobby or other area 39
accessible to visitors.40
p. 2 HB 1731
(b) The unknown donor notification shall contain the following:1
(i) A general description of the property;2
(ii) A statement requesting that any person claiming ownership or 3
having information about the possible donor contact the museum or 4
society in writing;5
(iii) Contact information for the museum or society, including an 6
address and email address where claims or inquiries may be sent; and7
(iv) A statement that if no claim or information establishing 8
ownership is received by the museum or society within 90 days from 9
the date of the notice, the property shall be deemed donated and 10
shall become the property of the museum or society.11
(c) Any person claiming ownership of the property must provide 12
proof of ownership in writing to the museum or historical society.13
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p. 3 HB 1731