05 LC 21
8200
Senate
Bill 195
By:
Senators Schaefer of the 50th, Rogers of the 21st, Carter of the 13th, Chance of
the 16th, Pearson of the 51st and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to selling and other trade practices, so as to regulate loans to and abandoned
property of museums and archives repositories; to provide a short title; to
define certain terms; to provide a process for establishing ownership of
property loaned to museums and archives repositories; to provide for notice; to
provide for other related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
1 of Title 10 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to selling and
other trade practices, is amended by inserting immediately following Article
17A, relating to consignment of art, a new Article 17B to read as
follows:
"ARTICLE
17B
10-1-529.1.
This
article shall be known and may be cited as the 'Georgia Museum Property
Act.'
10-1-529.2.
As
used in this article, the term:
(1)
'Archives repository' means a nonprofit organization or a public agency whose
primary functions include selecting, preserving, and making available records of
historical or enduring value and that is open to the public on a regular basis.
Archives repository does not include a public library.
(2)
'Loan' means the placement of property with a museum or archives repository that
is not accompanied by a transfer of title of the property to the museum or
archives repository and for which there is some record that the owner intended
to retain title to the property. Loan does not include transfers between
museums, between archives repositories, or between museums and archives
repositories unless the transferring institution specifically provides in
writing that the transfer is a loan under this article.
(3)
'Museum' means a nonprofit organization or a public agency that is operated
primarily for the purpose of collecting, cataloging, preserving, or exhibiting
property of educational, scientific, historic, cultural, or aesthetic interest
and that is open to the public on a regular basis. Museum does not include a
public library.
(4)
'Property' means personal property.
10-1-529.3.
(a)
Each museum or archives repository shall keep accurate records of all property
on loan to the museum or archives repository, including the name and address of
the owner, if known, and the beginning and ending date of the loan period. At
the time that a person makes a loan to a museum or archives repository, the
museum or archives repository shall give the owner of the property a copy of
this article. If a museum or archives repository is notified of a change in the
ownership of any property loaned to a museum or archives repository, the museum
or archives repository shall inform the new owner of the provisions of the loan
agreement and shall send the new owner a copy of this article. Not less than 90
days before a museum or archives repository changes its address or dissolves,
the museum or archives repository shall notify all owners of that change of
address or dissolution. If a museum or archives repository becomes the owner of
property under Code Section 10-1-529.4 or 10-1-529.5, the museum or archives
repository shall maintain any records that the museum or archives repository has
regarding the property for not less than two years after the date on which the
museum or archives repository becomes the owner of the property.
(b)
The owner of property loaned to a museum or archives repository shall provide
the museum or archives repository with written notice of any change of the
owner´s address, of the owner´s designated agent, of the designated
agent´s address, and of the name and address of the new owner if there is a
change in the ownership of the property loaned to the museum or archives
repository.
10-1-529.4.
(a)
Property loaned to a museum or archives repository whose loan has an expiration
date is abandoned when there has not been written contact between the owner and
the museum or archives repository for at least seven years after that expiration
date. If the loan has no expiration date, the property is abandoned when there
has not been written contact between the owner and the museum or archives
repository for at least seven years after the museum or archives repository took
possession of the property.
(b)(1)
If a museum or archives repository wishes to acquire title to abandoned
property, the museum or archives repository shall, not less than 60 days after
property is abandoned under subsection (a) of this Code section, send a notice
by certified mail with return receipt requested to the owner´s last known
address. The notice shall contain all of the following:
(A)
A statement that the loan is terminated and that the property is abandoned;
(B)
A description of the property;
(C)
A statement that the museum or archives repository will become the owner of the
property if the present owner does not submit a written claim to the property to
the museum or archives repository within 60 days after receipt of the notice;
and
(D)
A statement that the museum or archives repository will make arrangements with
the owner to return the property to the owner or dispose of the property as the
owner requests if the owner submits a written claim to the property to the
museum or archives repository within 60 days after receipt of the notice.
(2)
The notice provided for in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be
substantially in the following form:
NOTICE
OF ABANDONMENT OF PROPERTY
To:
____________ (name of owner)
________________
(address of owner)
Please
be advised that the loan agreement is terminated for the following property
(describe the property in sufficient detail to identify the
property):
______________
______________
The
above-described property that you loaned to ____________ (name and address of
museum or archives repository) will be considered abandoned by you and will
become the property of ____________ (name of museum or archives repository) if
you fail to submit to the museum or archives repository a written claim to the
property within 60 days after receipt of this notice. If you do submit a written
claim to the property within 60 days after receipt of this notice, ____________
(name of museum or archives repository) will arrange to return the property to
you or dispose of the property as you request. The cost of returning the
property to you or disposing of the property is your responsibility unless you
have made other arrangements with the museum or archives repository.
____________ (name of person to contact at museum or archives repository and
address of museum or archives repository).
(c)
If the notice sent by the museum or archives repository under subsection (b) of
this Code section is returned to the museum or archives repository undelivered,
the museum or archives repository shall give notice of the abandoned property by
publication, and on the organization´s website, if applicable, containing
the following:
(1)
The name and last known address of the present owner;
(2)
A description of the property;
(3)
A statement that the property is abandoned and that the museum or archives
repository will become the owner of the property if no person can prove
ownership of the property;
(4)
A statement that a person claiming ownership of the property shall notify the
museum or archives repository in writing of that claim within 60 days after
publication of the last legal notice; and
(5)
The name and mailing address of the person who may be contacted at the museum or
archives repository if a person wants to submit a written claim to the property.
(d)
If the museum or archives repository receives a timely written claim for the
property from the owner or the owner´s agent in response to the notice
provided under subsection (b) or (c) of this Code section the museum or archives
repository shall return the property to the owner or dispose of the property as
the owner requests. The owner shall advise the museum or archives repository in
writing as to how the property shall be disposed of or returned to the owner.
Costs of returning the property or disposing of the property shall be the
responsibility of the owner unless the owner and the museum or archives
repository have made other arrangements.
(e)
If the museum or archives repository receives a timely written claim for the
property from a person other than the person who loaned the property to the
museum or archives repository in response to the notice provided under
subsection (b) or (c) of this Code section, the museum or archives repository
shall, within 60 days after receipt of the written claim, determine if the claim
is valid. A claimant shall submit proof of ownership with the claim. If more
than one person submits a timely written claim, the museum or archives
repository may delay its determination of ownership until the competing claims
are resolved by agreement or legal action. If the museum or archives repository
determines that the claim is valid or if the competing claims are resolved by
agreement or judicial action, the museum or archives repository shall return the
property to the claimant submitting the valid claim or dispose of the property
as the valid claimant requests. Costs of returning the property or disposing of
the property shall be the responsibility of the valid claimant.
(f)
If the museum or archives repository does not receive a timely written claim to
the property or if the museum or archives repository determines that no valid
timely claim to the property was submitted, the museum or archives repository
becomes the owner of the property. The museum or archives repository becomes
the owner of the property on the day after the period for submitting a written
claim ends or on the day after the museum or archives repository determines that
no valid timely written claim was submitted. The museum or archives repository
owns the property free from all claims.
10-1-529.5.
(a)
Property in the possession of a museum or archives repository which the museum
or archives repository has reason to believe may be on loan and for which the
museum or archives repository does not know the owner or have any reasonable
means of determining the owner becomes the property of the museum or archives
repository if no person has claimed the property within seven years after the
museum or archives repository took possession of the property. The museum or
archives repository becomes the owner of the property on the day after the
seven-year period ends and after following the notification process outlined in
subsection (b) of this Code section free from all claims.
(b)
The museum or archives repository that wishes to acquire title to undocumented
property described in subsection (a) of this Code section shall provide public
notice in the manner described in Code Section 10-1-529.4.
(c)
On or after July 1, 2005, property that:
(1)
Is found in or on property controlled by the museum;
(2)
Is from an unknown source; and
(3)
Might reasonably be assumed to have been intended as a gift to the
museum
is
conclusively presumed to be a gift to the museum if ownership of the property is
not claimed by a person within 90 days of its discovery.
10-1-529.6.
(a)
Unless there is a written loan agreement to the contrary, a museum may apply
conservation measures to property on loan to the museum without the
lender´s permission or formal notice if action is required to protect the
property on loan or other property in the custody of the museum or the property
on loan is a hazard to the health and safety of the public or the museum staff,
and either:
(1)
The museum is unable to reach the lender at the lender´s last known address
within three days before the time the museum determines action is necessary;
or
(2)
The lender does not respond or will not agree to the protective measures the
museum recommends and does not terminate the loan and retrieve the property
within three days.
(b)
If a museum applies conservation measures to property under this article, or
with the agreement of the lender, unless the agreement provides otherwise, the
museum acquires a lien on the property in the amount of the costs incurred by
the museum.
(c)
The museum is not liable for injury to or loss of the property if the
museum:
(1)
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 was a hazard to the health and safety
of the public or the museum staff; and
(2)
Exercised reasonable care in the choice and application of conservation
measures."
SECTION
2.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.