§ 304.  Personal property.

The commission shall have the power and duty to:

(1)  Historical artifacts.--Acquire or accept on behalf of the Commonwealth through gifts or bequests, objects or other articles of historical, archaeological, maritime, natural or geological interest which shall be deposited in the State Museum or, at the discretion of the commission, at historic sites and museums committed to its custody or in any other storage facilities as are available to and approved by the commission. The commission may inspect surplus property in the possession of other Commonwealth agencies and receive this property as an historic resource.

(2)  Exhibition of objects.--Conduct under accepted professional practices the management and exhibition of objects; acquire by purchase, gift, loan, bequest or other lawful transfer objects relating to the culture of this Commonwealth and examine, research, catalog and preserve them; manage, care and exhibit these objects in the areas of natural history, geology, military history, decorative arts, history, maritime history, fine arts, science, industry and technology; select and designate the objects to be exhibited in museums and historic sites in this Commonwealth, including the State Museum; interpret the results of such management and exhibition of objects in museum and academic publications, exhibits and special educational programs for the public; and undertake appropriate professional conservation, restoration and storage of all objects and material items relative to the history of this Commonwealth.

(3)  Lending historic resources.--Lend to any other museum, archival repository, historical society or other reliable organized group of an educational nature any objects, articles of historical interest, manuscripts, documents or other material committed to its custody. The commission shall adopt rules and regulations to provide adequate security for the safe return of the material, which shall include provision for full insurance protection of the loaned material.

(4)  Sale or other disposition.--Exchange or otherwise dispose of material with other museums, archival repositories, historical societies or other reliable organized groups of an educational nature; and sell at public auction historical artifacts, pursuant to its rules and regulations, provided that an historical artifact shall not be sold at public auction unless the commission has determined that the exchange or disposal of that artifact by the other means authorized by this paragraph is not feasible and that the property would not be beneficial to the commission if it were used other than as an artifact. These sales shall be conducted by the Department of General Services. Income produced through these sales shall be paid into the State Treasury through the Department of Revenue and credited to the Historical Preservation Fund and allocated solely for collection acquisition or conservation purposes. No unique object, article, manuscript, document or other material, which is of special significance to the history of this Commonwealth, shall be sold.

(5)  Notice requirements.--Give written notice of the proposed sale, including a description of the artifact and its condition, and the name and last known address of the donor shall be transmitted to the chairmen of the State Government Committees of the House of Representatives and of the Senate, respectively, before any historic artifact shall be sold pursuant to paragraph (4).

(6)  Abandoned property on loan.--Sell or otherwise dispose of property on loan to the commission in accordance with the following:

(i)  Notwithstanding the provisions of Article XIII.1 of the act of April 9, 1929 (P.L.343, No.176), known as The Fiscal Code, and unless there exists a written agreement to the contrary, any property on loan to the commission for 21 years or more and for which no person has made a claim according to records maintained by the commission shall be considered abandoned if the commission has made a reasonable effort to locate and notify the original lender.

(ii)  If no valid claim has been made to the property within 60 days after the date of the last notice provided by the commission, the commission shall have the authority to sell or otherwise dispose of the property as provided in paragraph (4).

(Nov. 3, 2022, P.L.1665, No.102, eff. 60 days)

 

2022 Amendment.  Act 102 amended par. (4) and added par. (6).