According to Arkansas State Auditor Dennis Milligan, checks might be sent to about 360,000 Arkansans.
Have you ever hoped you might discover $100 in your mailbox?
A new state unclaimed property law may provide some Arkansans their wish.Act 114 of 2025, which became operative this week, permits the Arkansas State Auditor to automatically reimburse the owners of thousands of dollars in unclaimed funds.
More precisely, if the owner resides in Arkansas and the auditor has a reasonable belief that the property belongs to them—even if they haven’t made a claim—the law permits the auditor to mail goods valued at less than $5,000 to the owner.
According to State Auditor Dennis Milligan, this implies that thousands of Arkansans may receive unclaimed property in their inboxes without having to go through a claims procedure, he told the Advocate.
According to Milligan, Arkansans will have a great time over the following two or three months when the checks begin to be sent out. According to him, one out of every four Arkansans has money in the unclaimed property program.
According to Milligan, the auditor’s office is in charge of around $400 million in unclaimed property from all throughout the state, which is held in perpetuity until it is claimed, in addition to its other responsibilities.
According to Milligan, his office expects to distribute almost a fourth of that $83 million to roughly 360,000 individuals under the new rule. According to Milligan, the typical reward is anticipated to be slightly more than $100.
“I think this program is really, really important,” Milligan stated. You know, $200 might not seem like much to one person, but to another, it could mean the difference between putting food on the table and being able to pay a power bill.
Money for Milligan’s office comes from a number of sources, such as insurance changes, refunds, and closed bank accounts.
“I received $20 from a rebate here a while ago,” Milligan remarked. When a former employer was unable to locate you, they forwarded your final check to us instead. There are numerous explanations for why we receive this money.
There is more to unclaimed property than just money. The office maintains a book with photographs of some of the more intriguing physical items under its custody, such as a $10,000 bill, signed Nolan Ryan baseball cards found in abandoned safety deposit boxes or an unclaimed inheritance, a telegram from the Second World War mentioning a conversation with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and more. That property is carefully kept and cataloged.
However, Milligan said that many Arkansans are unaware that they are owed money, making it challenging to get them to come and collect what they are owed. There have also been concerns about being conned.
Property may remain unclaimed for decades in certain situations. “It still amazes me that most people are unaware that the unclaimed property program exists,” Milligan said.
According to the auditor’s office sonline database, which Arkansans can use to check if they are due money, even Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has unclaimed property.
To spread the word about unclaimed property and encourage individuals to check if they have any in their name, Milligan and his team travel the entire state. In an effort to persuade those who owed substantial amounts to complete the claims form, Milligan has personally driven to their homes.
According to Milligan, the documentation occasionally prevented people from returning their stuff, even if they weren’t suspicious or knew they were due money. Before Act 114, anyone wishing to retrieve property from the auditor’s office, regardless of its value, had to fill out a form and provide identification before their property could be sent.
Milligan approached him last year with the proposal for the legislation, according to Leachville Republican Sen. Dave Wallace, who introduced the act. Wallace claimed that automatically returning state-owned cash to their legitimate owners was simply good governance.
Wallace claimed that because the state owns $238 that either my wife, Karen, or I own from an incident a few years ago, he is an excellent example of the advantages of the law. I was completely unaware of it. Additionally, tens of thousands of Arkansans will be in a similar predicament.
According to Milligan, before sending a cheque, his agency will employ software to confirm the addresses and identities of unclaimed property owners. According to him, it will take time to clear the backlog, but in the upcoming months, qualified unclaimed property owners will start getting letters telling them that a check is on its way. As long as the initial letter isn’t returned as undeliverable, the check will arrive a few weeks later.
Who can disagree with Arkansans receiving their money back, after all? “Milligan said.” So yet, no one has complained.
Milligan said he still encourages Arkansans to periodically check the unclaimed property database notwithstanding the statute. The auditor’s office is only permitted to send money under the new law if it is $5,000 or less. If it is more than that, the individual who is owed the money still needs to complete the previously necessary papers.
Additionally, property that is owned by several individuals or companies is not eligible for immediate repatriation, nor is physical property. For instance, an individual must still complete the online auditor’s form if they are owed money as part of an inheritance with other claimants.
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