Treasurer Clint Zweifel Supports Bill to Help Return Military Medals to Their Rightful Owners

JEFFERSON CITY – State Treasurer Clint Zweifel (ZWY-ful) announced his support for HB 702, which was heard in the House Veterans Committee today. House Bill 702 will give Treasurer Zweifel more options to help return military medals held in Unclaimed Property to their owners. Treasurer Zweifel is working with Representative Vicki Englund, the bill sponsor, to ensure military medals are returned to their rightful owners or their heirs as soon as possible. Legislators from both sides of the aisle, including every member of the House Veterans Committee, are co-sponsoring the effort. The bill was unanimously voted out of the committee.

“Military medals hold significant meaning to the recipients of the medal and their heirs,” Treasurer Zweifel said. “Preserving and returning these medals is a responsibility we have to the brave servicemen and women who earned them.  In 2010, I worked with the legislature to pass the Veterans’ Medals Bill to ensure that military medals in Unclaimed Property would be properly cared for and never be sold at auction. I view HB 702 as the next step in my efforts to return these medals to the heroes who earned them.”

The bill allows Treasurer Zweifel to publicize the medals by posting information about them, including photographs and details about how they were earned, on his Unclaimed Property website. Additionally, the bill gives Treasurer Zweifel authority to exchange information about the medals with veterans’ organizations with the aim of locating their owners or heirs. Treasurer Zweifel currently holds 96 military medals.

“I appreciate Rep. Englund’s sponsorship of this bill, and her commitment to Missouri’s veterans,” Treasurer Zweifel said. “With her leadership and the support of her cosponsors, I am confident we will be able to return even more of these military medals to the brave men and women who earned them.”

“I’m glad to be working with Treasurer Zweifel to reunite servicemen and women with the medals they have earned,” Rep. Englund said. “This is a simple, cost-free way to make our government better serve those who have served our country.”

Since January 2009, Treasurer Zweifel has returned 32 military medals to veterans and their families. These medals are among the $700 million in Unclaimed Property held by Treasurer Zweifel. Individuals can search for their name 24 hours a day on the Treasurer’s Unclaimed Property website, www.ShowMeMoney.com.

About Treasurer Zweifel’s Unclaimed Property

State law requires financial institutions, insurance companies, public agencies and other business entities to turn over assets to Treasurer Zweifel that belong to a customer, client, employee or other owner if there have been no documented transactions or contact with the owner for five or more years.  Most Unclaimed Property consists of cash from bank accounts, stocks, bonds and contents of safe deposit boxes that have been abandoned. It also can include uncollected insurance policy proceeds, government refunds, utility deposits and wages from past jobs. Treasurer Zweifel does not handle real property such as land and houses or certain types of personal property such as cars and boats. There is $700 million in Unclaimed Property maintained by Treasurer Zweifel. Treasurer Zweifel never charges for the return of Unclaimed Property.