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Sponsor Statement for HB 501
Unclaimed Property & Restitution

An Act relating to the use of unclaimed property to pay court-ordered restitution; and providing for an effective date.

This legislation would amend Alaska's Unclaimed Property Code, AS 34.45, to give the Department of Revenue the authority to pay to the state or an individual or business as restitution, or to satisfy a judgment, any unclaimed property owed to a criminal. The department already has the authority to take unclaimed property owed to criminals and to use the assets to pay toward the individual's child support, but the department cannot use the assets to pay other claims without additional court action.

The need for this legislation became apparent last year when the Department of Revenue received several claims for property from prisoners serving sentences in state correctional facilities. The staff at the Unclaimed Property Section inquired if any of the property owners owed restitution or court-appointed attorney fees associated with their criminal cases. The staff learned that in two cases there were unpaid court judgments against the property owners.

In both cases, the Unclaimed Property Section had little choice under existing statute but to release the funds to the inmates with a letter reminding them of their outstanding judgments. As one might imagine, both inmates promptly deposited the checks into their own accounts. Each unclaimed property payment was in excess of $500.

Under existing statute, the Department of Law, an individual or a business must file a Writ of Execution with the court to obtain approval to seize any unclaimed property and to apply the money toward unpaid judgments. The resources used to research, process and file another court document when an existing judgment to pay restitution or attorney fees is already on file seem redundant.

Enacting this legislation would allow the Department of Law to submit proof of court-ordered restitution orders or judgments in criminal and delinquency cases to the Department of Revenue, which would then honor the orders and forward to the appropriate party any unclaimed property owned by incarcerated criminals. This legislation would not apply to judgments in civil cases.

Although this legislation would not affect many cases each year, it would ensure that criminals do not receive unclaimed property until they have first satisfied all of the court judgments against them. This legislation would not diminish the priority of child support cases, which would retain first position for any unclaimed property owned by criminals.

The committee urges your support of this bill.

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