2016 Mississippi Code
Title 39 - Libraries, Arts, Archives and History
Chapter 19 - Museum Unclaimed Property Act
§ 39-19-3. Definitions

The following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed herein, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Lender" means an individual, corporation, partnership, trust, estate, or similar organization, whose name appears on the records of the museum as the entity legally entitled to control property on loan to the museum.

(b) "Loan," "on loan," or "loaned," means property in the possession of the museum accompanied by evidence that the lender intended to retain title to the property and to return to take physical possession of the property in the future.

(c) "Museum" means a public or private nonprofit agency or institution located in this state and organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes, which utilizes a professional staff, owns or utilizes tangible objects, cares for them, and exhibits them to the public on a regular basis.

(d) "Museum records" means documents created and/or held by the museum in its regular course of business.

(e) "Property" means a tangible object, in the custody of a museum, that has intrinsic historical, artistic, scientific, or cultural value.

(f) "Restricted certified mail" means certified mail that carries on its face, in a conspicuous place where it will not be obliterated, the endorsement "deliver to addressee only" and for which the post office provides the mailer with a return receipt showing the date of delivery, the place of delivery, and the person to whom delivered.

(g) "Unclaimed property" means property meeting the following two (2) conditions: (a) property is on loan to the museum; (b) the original lender, or anyone acting legitimately on the lender's behalf, has not contacted the museum in writing for at least twenty-five (25) years from the date of the beginning of the loan, if the loan was for an indefinite or undetermined period, or for at least five (5) years after the date upon which the loan for a definite period expired.