Bill Text: IA SF119 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to documentation of loans and gifts to museums and including applicability provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-01-28 - Subcommittee: Dawson, Hogg, and Shipley. S.J. 176. [SF119 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-SF119-Introduced.html

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Senate File 119 - Introduced
SENATE FILE 119
BY DAWSON
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to documentation of loans and gifts to museums
and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 305B.2, Code 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
305B.2 Definitions.
As used in this chapter , unless the context requires
otherwise:
1. “Claimant” means a person who files a notice of intent
to preserve an interest in property on loan to a museum as
provided in section 305B.8 .
2. “Claimant’s address” means the most recent address as
shown on a notice of intent to preserve an interest in property
on loan to a museum, or notice of change of address, which
notice is on file with the museum.
3. “Donor” means a person who gives a gift to a museum.
4. “Gift” means a voluntary, gratuitous conveyance of
property to a museum.
3. 5. “Lender” means a person who has temporarily
transferred custody of property to a museum and whose name
appears on the records of the museum or in the registry of
museum loans and gifts as the person legally entitled to
property held or owing by the museum.
4. 6. “Lender’s address” means the most recent address as
shown on the a museum’s records , or in the registry of museum
loans and gifts, pertaining to the property on loan from the
lender.
5. 7. “Loan” or “loaned” means a deposit temporary transfer
of custody of property that is not accompanied by a transfer of
title to the property.
6. 8. “Museum” means an institution located in Iowa
operated by a nonprofit corporation or a public agency,
primarily for educational, scientific, historic preservation,
or aesthetic purposes, which owns, borrows, cares for,
exhibits, studies, archives, or catalogs property. “Museum”
includes, but is not limited to, historical societies, historic
sites or landmarks, parks, monuments, and libraries.
7. 9. “Property” means a tangible object, animate or
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inanimate, under a museum’s care which has intrinsic historic,
artistic, scientific, or cultural value.
10. “Registry of museum loans and gifts” means a record of
loans and gifts made to museums that is maintained by the state
historical society pursuant to section 305B.2A, subsection 4.
8. 11. “Undocumented property” means property in the
possession of a museum for which the museum cannot determine
the property’s owner by reference to the museum’s records the
property’s owner or to the registry of museum loans and gifts .
Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 305B.2A Documentation of gifts and
loans.
1. A museum shall complete a gift form or a loan form,
available from the state historical society, documenting each
gift and loan made to the museum.
2. Each gift or loan form shall include all of the
following:
a. The name of the donor or lender of the property.
b. The address, email address, and telephone number of the
donor or lender.
c. A detailed description of the property being gifted or
loaned.
d. The date of the gift or the loan.
e. If a loan, the duration of the loan.
f. Any terms or restrictions governing the gift or loan.
g. The name and work telephone number of the individual
responsible for receiving the gift or loan on behalf of the
museum.
h. The name, address, and main phone number of the museum
receiving the gift or loan.
i. The physical address where the gift or loan will be
housed if different than the address in paragraph “h” .
3. A copy of the completed form shall be submitted by the
museum to the state historical society within thirty calendar
days of the date of the loan or the gift to the museum.
4. The state historical society shall maintain such forms
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in a registry of museum loans and gifts. A gift form shall be
maintained for twenty-five years from the date of such gift. A
loan form shall be maintained for ten years after the date of
any of the following:
a. The property is returned to the lender or claimant.
b. The property is disposed of pursuant to section 305B.4.
c. The museum acquires title to the property pursuant to
section 305B.6 or 305B.7.
5. The director of the department of cultural affairs shall
adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A as necessary to administer
this section.
Sec. 3. Section 305B.3, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2019, are
amended to read as follows:
2. Mailed notice. All notices given by a museum pursuant
to this chapter shall be mailed to the lender’s, and any
claimant’s, last known address by restricted certified mail,
as defined in section 618.15 . The last known address shall be
determined by a review of the museum’s records and the registry
of museum loans and gifts. Notice is deemed given if the
United States post offices provides the museum receives proof
of receipt within thirty days of mailing the notice.
3. Published notice. If the museum does not know the
identity of the lender, or does not have an address for the
lender, or if proof of receipt is not received by the museum
from the United States post office within thirty days of
mailing a notice under subsection 2 , notice is deemed given
if the museum publishes notice at least once a week for three
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in both
of the following:
a. The county in which the museum is located.
b. The county of the lender’s or claimant’s address, if any.
Sec. 4. Section 305B.4, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
1, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
Unless there is a written loan agreement to the contrary,
a museum may apply conservation measures to or dispose
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of property on loan to the museum without the lender’s or
claimant’s permission, or and without formal notice to the
lender or claimant , if immediate action is required to protect
the property on loan or other property in the custody of the
museum , or if the property on loan is determined to be a hazard
to the health and safety of the public or the museum staff and
if any of the following apply:
Sec. 5. Section 305B.4, subsection 1, paragraphs a and b,
Code 2019, are amended to read as follows:
a. The museum is unable to reach the lender or claimant at
the lender’s or claimant’s last known address or phone number ,
as determined by a review of the museum’s records and the
registry of museum loans and gifts, if action is to be taken
within more than three days but less than one week between
four and six calendar days from the time the museum determined
determines action was is necessary.
b. The museum is unable to reach the lender or claimant
at the lender’s or claimant’s last known phone number , as
determined by a review of the museum’s records and the registry
of museum loans and gifts, prior to taking action if the action
is to be taken within three days or less from the time the
museum determined determines action was is necessary.
Sec. 6. Section 305B.4, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code
2019, is amended to read as follows:
a. Has a lien on the property and on the proceeds of any
disposition of the property for the costs incurred by the
museum for the conservation measures or the disposal of the
property .
Sec. 7. Section 305B.4, subsection 2, paragraph b,
subparagraph (2), Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
(2) Exercised reasonable care in the choice selection and
application of conservation measures.
Sec. 8. Section 305B.5, Code 2019, is amended to read as
follows:
305B.5 Notice of injury damage or loss.
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A museum shall give a lender or claimant prompt notice of
any known injury damage to or loss of property on loan . The
on a notice of damage or loss form adopted by the department
of cultural affairs shall adopt by rule a form for notice
of injury or loss, no later than January 1, 1989, and shall
distribute the rule and form to all identified museums in Iowa
within sixty days after adoption of the rule . The notice shall
be mailed to the lender’s or claimant’s last known address in
event of injury or loss of property on loan to the museum as
determined by a review of the museum’s records and the registry
of museum loans and gifts . Published notice of injury damage
or loss of undocumented property shall not be required.
Sec. 9. Section 305B.6, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2019, are
amended to read as follows:
2. If the lender or claimant does not respond to the
notice of termination provided under subsection 1 within one
year by filing a notice of intent to preserve an interest in
property on loan, the museum acquires shall acquire title to
the property.
3. A notice of intent to terminate a loan must include a
statement containing substantially the following information:
The records of (name of museum) indicate that you have
property on loan to it. The institution wishes to terminate
the loan. You must contact the institution, establish your
ownership of the property pursuant to Code section 305B.8 ,
and make arrangements to collect the property. If you fail
to do so promptly, you will be considered to have donated the
property will be considered a gift to the institution.
Sec. 10. Section 305B.7, subsections 1 and 3, Code 2019, are
amended to read as follows:
1. A museum may acquire title to undocumented property
held by a museum for seven years or longer with no valid claim
or written contact by any person, all verifiable as verified
through the museum’s written records, by giving published
notice pursuant to section 305B.3, subsection 3, of acquisition
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of intent to acquire title to undocumented property.
3. A notice of acquisition of intent to acquire title to
undocumented property must include a statement containing
substantially the following information:
The records of (name of museum) fail to indicate the
owner of record of certain property in its possession. The
museum intends to acquire title to the below described
property: ( general description of the property detailed
enough to allow a party to identify the property ). If you
claim ownership or other legal interest in this property you
must contact the institution, establish your ownership of the
property pursuant to Code section 305B.8 , and make arrangements
to collect the property. If you fail to do so promptly, you
will be considered to have waived any claim you may have had to
the property.
Sec. 11. Section 305B.8, subsection 1, Code 2019, is amended
to read as follows:
1. A notice of intent to preserve an interest in property
on loan to a museum filed pursuant to this chapter shall be
in writing , or on a form available from the department of
cultural affairs pursuant to subsection 3, and contain all of
the following information:
a. A description of the property adequate to enable the
museum to identify the property.
b. Documentation sufficient to establish the claimant as
owner of the property.
c. The claimant’s address and phone number.
c. d. A statement attesting to the truth, to the best of
the signer’s knowledge, of all information included in or with
the notice.
d. e. The signature, under penalty of perjury, of the
claimant or a person authorized to act on behalf of the
claimant.
Sec. 12. Section 305B.9, subsections 1, 6, and 7, Code 2019,
are amended to read as follows:
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1. An action shall not be brought against a museum for
damages because of injury damage to or loss of property loaned
to the museum more than three years from the date the museum
gives the lender or claimant notice of the injury damage or
loss , or ten years from the date of the injury damage or loss,
whichever occurs earlier.
6. Notwithstanding subsections 3 and 4 , a lender or claimant
who was is not given notice as provided in this chapter that
the a museum intended intends to terminate a loan , as provided
in pursuant to section 305B.6 , and who proves that the museum
received an adequate notice of intent to preserve an interest
in loaned property , which satisfies all of the requirements of
pursuant to section 305B.8 , within the seven years immediately
preceding the filing of an action to recover the property, may
recover the property or, if the property has been disposed of,
recover the reasonable value of the property at the time it was
disposed of plus interest at the legal rate.
7. A museum is not liable at any time immune from civil
liability , in the absence of a court order, for returning
property to the original lender, even if a claimant other than
the lender has filed a notice of intent to preserve an interest
in property. If persons claim competing interests in property
in the possession of a museum, the burden is upon the claimants
a claimant to prove their the claimant’s interest in an action
in equity initiated by a claimant . A museum is not liable at
any time immune from civil liability for returning property
to an uncontested claimant who produced reasonable proof of
ownership pursuant to section 305B.8 .
Sec. 13. Section 305B.10, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code
2019, is amended to read as follows:
In order to take title to property pursuant to this chapter a
museum has the following obligations to a lender or claimant:
Sec. 14. Section 305B.10, subsection 3, Code 2019, is
amended to read as follows:
3. A museum accepting a loan of property on or after January
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1, 1989, shall inform the lender in writing at the time of the
loan of the provisions of this chapter . A copy of the form
for notice prescribed in of intent to preserve an interest in
property pursuant to section 305B.8 , or a citation to this
chapter , is adequate for this purpose.
Sec. 15. Section 305B.11, subsection 1, unnumbered
paragraph 1, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows:
On or after January 1, 1989, a A museum shall at minimum
maintain and retain the following records, either originals
or accurate copies, for a period of not less than twenty-five
years:
Sec. 16. Section 305B.11, subsection 1, paragraphs b and c,
Code 2019, are amended to read as follows:
b. The A loan agreement, if any, and a receipt or ledger for
property on loan.
c. A receipt or ledger for property delivered returned to an
owner or claimant.
Sec. 17. Section 305B.12, subsection 1, Code 2019, is
amended to read as follows:
1. The lender or claimant of property on loan to a museum
shall notify the museum of a change of address or change in
ownership of the property. Within thirty calendar days of
receipt, the museum shall submit a copy of such notice to the
state historical society. The state historical society shall
file the notice with the corresponding loan form on file in
the registry of museum loans and gifts. Failure to notify
the museum of these changes may result in the lender’s or
claimant’s loss of rights in the property.
Sec. 18. Section 305B.13, subsection 1, Code 2019, is
amended to read as follows:
1. Sections 305B.1 , 305B.2, and 305B.3 through 305B.8 are
retroactively applicable to all property in the possession of a
museum within the state on or after January 1, 1988.
Sec. 19. APPLICABILITY. The following applies to all gifts
and loans to a museum on or after July 1, 2019:
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The section of this Act enacting section 305B.2A.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
This bill relates to documentation of loans and gifts to
museums.
The bill requires a museum to fill out a gift form or a loan
form, available from the state historical society, documenting
each gift and loan made to the museum. The form is required to
include the name, address, email address, and phone number of
the lender or donor, a detailed description of and the date of
the loan or gift, the duration of a loan, any terms governing
the gift or loan, the name and phone number of the individual
receiving the gift or loan on behalf of the museum, the name,
address, and phone number of the museum receiving the gift or
loan, and the physical address where the gift or loan will be
housed. “Donor” and “gift” are defined in the bill.
The bill requires the museum to submit a copy of the
completed form to the state historical society. The historical
society must maintain all of the forms in a registry of museum
loans and gifts. A gift form must be maintained for 25 years
from the date of the gift. A loan form must be maintained
for 10 years after the date the property is returned to the
lender or claimant, or the property is disposed of, or the
museum acquires title to the property due to termination of
a loan or certain circumstances where a legal owner of the
property cannot be identified. The director of the department
of cultural affairs shall adopt rules to administer the forms
and the registry of museum loans and gifts.
If a lender or claimant of property on loan to a museum
notifies the museum of a change of address, or a change in
ownership of the property, the bill requires the museum to
submit a copy of the notice to the historical society. The
historical society must file the notice with the corresponding
loan form on file in the registry of museum loans and gifts.
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The bill provides that a museum must check its records,
as well as the registry of museum loans and gifts, prior to
declaring property undocumented, or providing any notice
required pursuant to Code chapter 305B. “Undocumented
property” is defined in the bill as property in the possession
of a museum for which the museum cannot determine the
property’s owner.
The section of the bill enacting new Code section 305B.2A is
applicable to all gifts and loans to a museum on or after July
1, 2019.
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