Mobile office offers citizens opportunity to claim lost funds

June 12, 2024 (Jonesboro, Ark.) – Auditor of State Dennis Milligan was in Jonesboro on Tuesday for a mobile office at the Jonesboro Municipal Center, where about 60 northeast Arkansans found more than $10,000 in unclaimed funds through the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt.

Following the mobile office, Milligan delivered a check to the Jonesboro Rotary Club for $10,738.48, which will be used for maintenance and upkeep of the Rotary Centennial Plaza and Rotary Centennial Park.

“I love getting to tell Arkansans that their checks are in the mail,” Milligan said. “Not many people can truly say, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help,’ and I take pride in being able to do just that.”

Unclaimed property can consist of any type of financial account: abandoned checking or savings accounts, utility deposits that were not returned, overpayments, life insurance proceeds, stock or mutual fund shares, etc. It also includes tangible items left behind in safe deposit boxes.

“When owners abandon an account – through a move or a death, for instance – and the original company cannot locate the owner, the money or properties from the abandoned account are then deemed ‘unclaimed’ and submitted to my office. I am required by state law to then try to return these unclaimed funds to their rightful owner,” Milligan said. “Since I took office in January 2023, we’ve returned more than $46 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. 

Auditor of State Dennis Milligan (right) talks with Dan Pasmore (left), Craighead County Justice of the Peace for District 11, and his mother, Jean, who located money in the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt on Tuesday. Auditor Milligan held a mobile office at Jonesboro City Hall to give northeast Arkansans the opportunity to claim lost funds that have been remitted to his office.

-30-

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, 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/.