Arkansas Auditor Andrea Lea explained her role to members of the Hot Springs National Park Rotary Club at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa on Wednesday.
Lea highlighted the work of the Unclaimed Property Division, known as the Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt. The division is currently in possession of more than 3,000 pieces of abandoned properties.
The properties include any property that has been abandoned and turned over to the state auditor's office. It can include fund balances, minerals, old paychecks and more.
Businesses turn over property about every three years. Lea's office actively seeks out the owners. She explained that certified public accountants and attorneys are responsible for ensuring their clients submit unclaimed property.
"I don't go to counties or cities," Lea said. "I don't do that. What I can do, by law, is audit businesses for unclaimed property. I would really prefer if everyone just did it voluntarily."
The office aims to hold an auction by the end of the year to dispense of many of the items. Lea said the department has been in possession of many of the properties for an extended period of time.
The most fantastic details stem from safe-deposit boxes turned over to the office, she said. Most are found with birth certificates, marriage licenses and similar documents. The auditor's employees also discover many unusual items such as teeth, hair, contraband, narcotics and photos of a personal nature. Lea spoke of an instance when a bank sent methamphetamine discovered in a box.
"They held up this little pill bottle and it's got a white substance in it," Lea said. "I said, 'What makes you think that's meth?' They hold up a sheet of paper. At the top of the sheet of paper: 'Tom's meth recipe.'"
Remains have also been held in the office's vault for periods of time. Lea said she believes that should not be the job of the state auditor. The owners were known, but they refused to claim the remains because of a family feud. Her office turned the remains over to the state crime lab.
The Great Arkansas Treasure Hunt also features many items of value, such as World War II memorabilia, including seven Luger pistols in mint condition.
"My thing is, the law actually states I get to decide it all," Lea said. "Me, myself and I. What is worth something, what is not worth something and how to dispose of it. That's really disconcerting when you think about it, because what's worth something?"
Lea told of how the office helped return a Vietnam veteran's military medals to his family. The medals, including a Purple Heart and a Silver Star, were placed in the vault in a plastic bag.
The state auditor's employees spent weeks locating the man's family. His son recently retired in Colorado from the military. His daughter drove from Tennessee to retrieve the medals.
"She cried. All of us cried, I'll be perfectly honest, when she came to pick those up," Lea said. "She said, 'Dad had scars, big scars, but we never knew what they were from. We had no idea.' So tell someone if you have a safe-deposit box, please."
Lea discussed how personal property carries inherently varying values. She said she takes the responsibility seriously of what to do with items from the safe-deposit boxes.
"I want to spend the next few years actively seeking out the owners of those boxes in the most creative ways I can," Lea said.
Visit auditor.ar.gov to search for unclaimed property. Visitors can search by name, business, city or Social Security number to learn if the office is in possession of any of their unclaimed property.
Rotarian Tiffany Tucker introduced Lea at the club's weekly noon luncheon meeting. Lea began her political career on the Pope County Quorum Court and Russellville City Council.
Lea served three terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives before she was elected as auditor last November. She earned a college degree from Arkansas Tech University at the age of 47 and advocates for nontraditional students to pursue more education.
The state auditor is one of seven constitutional offices in Arkansas. Lea explained how she is not responsible for standard audits. The Division of Legislative Audit carries out audits.
"What I do is I handle all of the check writing for the state," Lea said. "I am one of the three people that manages the fund balances. DFA extracts your taxes from you. They give it to the treasurer, who then invests it and then I write the checks. We all have to make sure we balance with each other."
The office houses a large machine that prints out 10,000 to 15,000 checks per day. The amount is too many for the auditor to sign personally. The signatures are electronic.
About 100,000 checks are printed per day during tax season.
Lea's office calculated about one in four Arkansans have some form of unclaimed property. She said she enjoys her new role more than being a legislator.
"I didn't know I would love it this much," Lea said. "Thank you for letting me serve you. My office is truly an open door."
Local on 09/03/2015