Checks between $50 and $5,000 to be mailed to claimants 

Feb. 14, 2025 (Little Rock) – Auditor of State Dennis Milligan’s office is celebrating a bill the Legislature passed Thursday that will allow his office to automatically mail unclaimed property checks to Arkansans. 

Senate Bill 14, sponsored by Sen. Dave Wallace of Leachville and Rep. Jon Milligan of Lake City, aims to return Arkansans’ unclaimed money without them having to file a claim or submit documentation. The process, known as the “data match initiative,” is already adopted by 24 other states. It allows the auditor’s office to send checks to people with unclaimed funds between $50 and $5,000, so long as the owners’ information is validated through several identity-verification processes. 

“This is a government efficiency bill that will cut red tape and bureaucracy and will help my office get citizens their unclaimed money more effectively,” Milligan said. “This isn’t the state’s money; it belongs to the citizens.” 

The process will only apply to individual claims. Heirs making a claim for a deceased relative, businesses and nonprofit organizations, or people who are owed mineral rights, tangible items or securities will still need to file a claim through the traditional process via the website www.claimitar.gov, Milligan said. 

Unclaimed property consists of financial accounts such as abandoned checking or savings accounts, utility deposits that were not returned, stock or mutual fund shares, life insurance proceeds, overpayments, etc. When owners abandon a financial account – through a move or a death, for instance – and the original company cannot locate the owner, the money or properties from that account are deemed abandoned and are remitted 

to the Auditor of State’s office. The office’s Unclaimed Property division then works to connect property to rightful owners through the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt program. 

The auditor’s office has more than $400 million that is owed to current and former Arkansans. Through the data match initiative, the office has identified nearly 360,000 properties valued at more than $83 million. 

The office plans to process the 360,000 properties in small batches due to the high volume, Milligan said. 

“As eager as I am to reconnect citizens with their unclaimed property, implementing the data match program will take time. Once we begin each batch, we will notify the owners via postal mail that we intend to mail them a check. Following a 90-day waiting period to adjust for any returned mail or bad addresses, we will be able to tell people their check is in the mail.” 

Checks will only be mailed to people who the office has identified through multiple identity matches, including a federal archive that detects whether someone has died and the postal service’s National Change of Address database, Milligan said. 

“Once fully implemented, this data match initiative will allow us to return several million dollars back into Arkansans’ hands where it rightfully belongs,” Milligan said. “It’s just the right thing to do.” 

Since taking office in January 2023, Milligan’s administration has returned more than $70 million to citizens through the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt. To see if you might have unclaimed property in the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt, visit www.claimitar.gov. 

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*Photo cutline: Auditor of State Dennis Milligan (left) testifies during a House of Representatives committee hearing about Senate Bill 14 alongside the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Jon Milligan of Lake City (no relation). 

Dennis Milligan was elected Auditor of State in 2022. The Auditor’s office is responsible for ensuring payroll for more than 700 state government elected officials, Supreme Court justices, prosecuting attorneys and deputy prosecutors. The office also administers the state’s Unclaimed Property Program, The Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt. Learn more at https://auditor.ar.gov/.