Legislature considers expanding unclaimed-property notices to local papers
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Summary
Supporters told the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee LB869 would let the State Treasurer publish unclaimed-property notices in every county’s legal paper (about 128 papers) and permit either county name lists or a quarter-page ad directing people to nebraskalostcash.gov.
Sen. Barry DeKay introduced LB869 as a follow-up to last year’s LB183 and said the bill responds to negotiations between the State Treasurer’s Office and the Nebraska Press Association. DeKay said the bill would require the treasurer to publish notice once annually in each legal paper of general circulation in every county, expanding from the current practice of publishing owners’ names in 16 daily newspapers.
"LB 869 represents the culmination of those negotiations," DeKay said in opening remarks. State Treasurer Joey Spellberg testified the change is intended to reach more Nebraskans and direct them to the treasurer’s unclaimed property website, nebraskalostcash.gov.
Treasurer Spellberg told the committee the Unclaimed Property Division returned what he described in testimony as "more than 19,700,000.0 through 19,952 claims" in 2025, and that his office operates with a lean staff. He said LB869 would allow notices to appear in an estimated 128 legal newspapers across Nebraska, and would permit either a county-specific list of owners or a display ad covering at least 25% of a standard broadsheet that includes instructions for how to search for property.
Meaghen Aguirre, director of the Unclaimed Property Division, said an analysis found that when the state published specific owner names, only "7.4% of those owners initiated a claim in the 4 week period starting when the ad began running," and she described the 40-page, once-yearly insert in 16 dailies as costly and rapidly out of date. Aguirre said LB869 would give the office flexibility to choose county-specific name publications where appropriate or to run a quarter-page ad that points readers to the online searchable database.
Representatives of the Nebraska Press Association and local publishers testified in support. Jerry Rahal of 1press said the association worked with the treasurer’s office to develop a workable solution that increases local reach. Lynell Morgan, a co-publisher of the Alton Review, said the bill is about access and awareness and stressed that local papers are trusted sources for community notices.
Committee members asked about fiscal implications and whether the same budget would be used to expand placement. Treasurer Spellberg said the plan is to use existing publication funds to place ads in additional county legal papers rather than publish the large annual insert in a smaller set of dailies. No opponents appeared in person for LB869 in this transcript; DeKay asked the committee to advance the bill to general file.