S*45 Session 107 (1987-1988)
S*0045(Rat #0043, Act #0022 of 1987) General Bill, By Land, W.E. Applegate,
J.C. Hayes and N.W. Smith
A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Chapter 45
to Title 27 so as to establish requirements for nonprofit organizations to
claim title to abandoned cultural property, to require a procedure by which
the organization holding the property must make notification in order to claim
the property, to establish conditions under which conservation measures may be
taken to provide a limitation on actions brought against organizations, and to
provide for the exclusive use of this Chapter to dispose of property to which
it applies.-amended title
09/15/86 Senate Prefiled
09/15/86 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary
01/13/87 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-57
01/13/87 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-57
01/15/87 Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
Judiciary SJ-173
01/20/87 Senate Amended SJ-226
01/20/87 Senate Read second time SJ-226
01/21/87 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-249
01/21/87 House Introduced and read first time HJ-178
01/21/87 House Referred to Committee on Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-178
03/05/87 House Committee report: Favorable Medical, Military,
Public and Municipal Affairs HJ-862
03/12/87 House Read second time HJ-1001
03/24/87 House Read third time and enrolled HJ-1408
04/08/87 Ratified R 43
04/13/87 Signed By Governor
04/13/87 Effective date 07/01/87
04/13/87 Act No. 22
04/24/87 Copies available
(A22, R43, S45)
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING CHAPTER 45
TO TITLE 27 SO AS TO ESTABLISH REQUIREMENTS FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS TO CLAIM
TITLE TO ABANDONED CULTURAL PROPERTY, TO REQUIRE A PROCEDURE BY WHICH THE
ORGANIZATION HOLDING THE PROPERTY MUST MAKE NOTIFICATION IN ORDER TO CLAIM THE
PROPERTY, TO ESTABLISH CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH CONSERVATION MEASURES MAY BE TAKEN
TO PROVIDE A LIMITATION ON ACTIONS BROUGHT AGAINST ORGANIZATIONS, AND TO PROVIDE
FOR THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THIS CHAPTER TO DISPOSE OF PROPERTY TO WHICH IT APPLIES.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
Abandoned cultural property
SECTION 1. Title 27 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"CHAPTER 45
Requirements for Claiming Title to Abandoned
Cultural Property and for Applying
Conservation Measures to Property on Loan
Section 27-45-10. (A) 'Cultural property' means:
(1) any work of art, including, but not limited to, paintings, drawings,
prints, decorative art, craft work, photographs, documents, costumes, weapons,
tools, and equipment of the various trades and professions, archaeological and
geological specimens, zoological and botanical specimens, historical artifacts,
and objects associated with historical persons or events; and
(2) an object, which when exhibited, serves to further the educational goals
of the exhibiting nonprofit organization.
(B) 'Nonprofit organization' means any nonprofit museum, gallery, library,
college, university, school, church, or other institution or organization
organized exclusively for artistic, religious, charitable, scientific, literary,
or educational purposes, or to promote the study or advancement of the arts or
sciences, or to sustain, encourage, or promote the musical or performing arts.
(C) 'Loan or on loan' means all deposits of cultural property with a nonprofit
organization which are not accompanied by a transfer of title to the property.
(D) 'Date of acquisition' means the date of the initial delivery of the loaned
cultural property to the nonprofit organization.
(E) 'Lender' means any individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust,
partnership, or association, who deposits cultural property with a nonprofit
organization without transferring title of the property to the nonprofit
organization.
(F) 'Board' means Abandoned Cultural Property Board.
(G) 'Abandoned Cultural Property' means the cultural property meeting the
following two conditions:
(1) the property was deposited with a nonprofit organization as described
in subsection (C);
(2) the original lender or his heirs or assigns have not contacted the
nonprofit organization for at least ten years after the date of acquisition, if
the loan was for an indefinite or indeterminate period, and for at least ten
years after the date upon which a loan for a definite duration expired.
Section 27-45-20. There is established the Abandoned Cultural Property Board
composed of five members appointed for terms of two years by the commissioners
of the State Museum Commission. The members of the board shall elect a chairman
and secretary and shall meet at least quarterly. The members of the board shall
receive no mileage, per diem, or subsistence. The board is responsible for
certifying a work of art as abandoned cultural property. The board shall also
determine whether a nonprofit organization has complied with the provisions of
Section 27-45-30 or 27-45-40, as appropriate, and shall determine if a lender's
claim to property is valid as required by Section 27-45-90(C).
Section 27-45-30. (A) A nonprofit organization holding abandoned cultural
property shall attempt to notify the lender of intent to terminate the loan
through the following methods before claiming title to the property:
(1) by sending a certified mail letter to the lender's last known address
and if the lender has not responded to this letter within sixty days;
(2) by contacting the tax commission in the state of the lender's last known
address in writing to request a forwarding address for the lender and sending a
letter by certified mail to this address, if different from the address to which
a certified letter has been mailed pursuant to the requirements of item (1); and
(3) by publishing notice and listing of the property in:
(a) one newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
nonprofit organization is located for at least once a week for four weeks and in
the county of the lender's last known address; and
(b) a publication or catalogue of the nonprofit organization.
(B) The notice required by subsection (A) must contain:
(1) the name and last known address, if any, of the last known owner of the
property;
(2) a description of the property; and
(3) a statement that if proof of claim is not presented in writing by the
lender, his heirs or assignees to the nonprofit organization, and if the owner's
right to receive the property is not established to the nonprofit organization's
satisfaction within one hundred twenty days from the date of the fourth published
notice in newspapers, the property is considered abandoned and becomes the
property of the nonprofit organization.
Section 27-45-40. (A) If a nonprofit organization does not have records
identifying the lender of cultural property and the nonprofit organization has
demonstrated its possession of the property for at least ten years without any
contact by the lender, the nonprofit organization shall attempt to notify the
lender of intent to terminate the loan before claiming title to the property by
publishing a notice and listing of the property in:
(1) one newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the
nonprofit organization is located for at least once a week for four weeks; and
(2) a publication or catalogue of the nonprofit organization.
(B) The notice required by subsection (A) must contain:
(a) a description of the property; and
(b) a statement that if proof of claim is not presented in writing by the
lender, his heirs or assignees to the nonprofit organization, and if the owner's
right to receive the property is not established to the satisfaction of the
nonprofit organization within one hundred twenty days from the date of the fourth
published notice, the property is considered abandoned and becomes the property
of the nonprofit organization.
Section 27-45-50. Record of a nonprofit organization's efforts to locate the
lender as required by Section 27-45-30 or 27-45-40 must be retained by the
nonprofit organization for a period of not less than ten years following the date
the nonprofit organization claims title to the property.
Section 27-45-60. If no claim has been made to the abandoned cultural property
within one hundred twenty days from the date of the fourth published notice in
newspapers as required by Section 27-45-30(1) or Section 27-45-40(1), title to
the property vests in the nonprofit organization, free from all claims of the
lender and of all persons claiming through or under him, except as provided in
Section 27-45-90(C).
Section 27-45-70. Before a nonprofit organization may claim title to abandoned
cultural property, the board shall certify that the nonprofit organization has
followed the procedures as required by this chapter for notifying the lender.
The board may require nonprofit organizations to submit such documentation of the
nonprofit organization's attempts to notify the lender as the board considers
necessary.
Section 27-45-80. (A) Unless there is a written loan agreement to the
contrary, a nonprofit organization may apply conservation measures to or dispose
of the property on loan 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 nonprofit organization, or because the property on loan has become
a hazard to the health and safety of the public or the nonprofit organization's
staff; and
(1) the nonprofit organization is unable to reach the lender at the lender's
last known address so that the nonprofit organization and the lender may promptly
agree upon a solution; or
(2) the lender will not agree to the protective measures the nonprofit
organization recommends, yet is unwilling to terminate the loan and retrieve the
property.
(B) A nonprofit organization is not liable for injury to, or loss of, the
property if:
(1) the nonprofit organization 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 nonprofit organization, or that the
property on loan constituted a hazard to the health and safety of the public or
the nonprofit organization's staff; and
(2) when the nonprofit organization applied conservation measures, the
nonprofit organization exercised reasonable care in the choice and application
of the conservation measures.
Section 27-45-90. (A) Effective July 1, 1987, no action may be brought against
a nonprofit organization to recover property on loan when more than one hundred
twenty days have passed from the date that the organization gives final public
notice of intent to terminate the loan pursuant to Section 27-45-30 or 27-45-40,
as appropriate, except pursuant to subsection (C).
(B) A lender is considered to have donated loaned property to a nonprofit
organization if the lender fails to contact the organization and establish his
claim to the property to the satisfaction of the organization or fails to file
an action to recover the property on loan to the organization within the one
hundred twenty days specified in Section 27-45-60.
(C) If a nonprofit organization fails to follow the appropriate methods for
notifying the lender as provided in Section 27-45-30 or 27-45-40, the lender may
present proof of his claim to the board within ten years from the date the loan
was terminated pursuant to this chapter. If the board finds the lender's claim
to be valid, and the nonprofit organization is not able to present written proof
of notice to terminate the loan in the appropriate method provided in Section
27-45-30 or 27-45-40, the nonprofit organization is liable to the lender for:
(1) the return of the property; or
(2) an amount equal to the property's fair market value on the date it was
discarded, sold, or traded by the nonprofit organization, and interest, at the
legal rate, from that same date.
Section 27-45-100. The provisions of this chapter control the procedure and
disposition of any property to which it applies in lieu of any other procedure
as prescribed by law including the provisions of Chapter 17 of Title 27 as it
pertains to the Disposition of Unclaimed Property."
Time effective
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 1987. |