Aug. 24, 2023 (Russellville, Ark.) – Auditor of State Dennis Milligan’s office, which administers the state’s unclaimed property program, the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt, located $5,205.58 for the Pope County Office of Emergency Management recently.
“Last month, my outreach team met with Pope County Judge Ben Cross and informed him of more than $5,000 we owed the county’s Emergency Management office through the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt,” Milligan said. “We worked with the county to help it file its claim and the check was cut today.”
Unclaimed property can be any number of financial items, such as insurance premium overpayments, unreimbursed utility deposits, uncashed checks, contents of safety deposit boxes, etc. Anyone could have unclaimed property, including individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations or heirs of a deceased family member.
When owners abandon an account – through a move or a death, for instance – and the holder of the property cannot locate the owner, the money or properties are submitted to the Auditor of State’s office. The Auditor’s office is required to return unclaimed property back to citizens.
“Since I took office on Jan. 10th, we’ve returned more than $17 million to citizens through the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt,” Milligan said. “We will continue to be proactive in our outreach to cities and counties in order to get their money back into their local communities.”
To see if you or your organization has unclaimed property in Arkansas, visit https://claimitar.com/.
Pictured is Outreach Manager Thomas Burchfield (right) presenting a check for unclaimed property to Pope County Judge Ben Cross for the county’s Office of Emergency Management.
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Dennis Milligan was elected Auditor of State in 2023. The Auditor’s office is responsible for ensuring payroll for more than 600 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/.