AS Title 14, Chapter 57: Museums and Natural and Cultural History Repositories

Article 1. State Museum and Natural and Cultural History Repositories. Chapter 57. Museums and Natural and Cultural History Repositories. Sec. 14.57.010. The state museum. (a) The department shall manage and have complete charge of all of the property contained in the institution known as the state museum. The museum is designated as a repository of natural and cultural history collections and shall be operated and maintained as a designated repository in the state capital. Branch museums may be established and maintained in other localities in the state. (b) The department shall (1) acquire artifacts, natural history specimens, art objects, etc., that pertain to the human and natural history of Alaska by purchase and by gift; (2) identify, catalog, preserve, and display these acquisitions; (3) acquire and catalog Alaskan photographs and maintain a card catalog of this collection; (4) accept endowments, grants, and gifts in accordance with AS 37.07 (the Executive Budget Act); (5) collect and maintain books, periodicals, pamphlets, and other materials pertinent to museum administration, techniques, and collections; (6) assist and advise in the development of local museums; (7) collect and keep current information concerning museum activities throughout the state; (8) coordinate the museum activities of the state with those of other agencies; (9) keep the museum open at reasonable hours for the convenience of visitors; (10) provide museum services and administer state and other grants-in-aid to museums in the state to supplement and improve their services, the grants to be paid from money appropriated for that purpose, or from other money available for that purpose. (c) The department may establish by regulation, and collect, reasonable user fees and other fees for services provided by the department under this chapter. The department may negotiate reduced fees or group discounts with, or offer reduced fees or group discounts to, persons who bring groups of people to visit the museum or a branch of the museum. Sec. 14.57.012. Designated natural and cultural history repositories. (a) The department may designate natural and cultural history repositories in addition to the state museum as provided under this section. (b) An institution located in the state that seeks designation as a natural and cultural history repository may apply on a form and under procedures established by the department in regulation. The procedures must include submission of evidence acceptable to the department that the institution (1) adheres to currently established criteria of collection preservation and storage, including employment of long-term, professional, and systematic curatorial services; (2) ensures public access commensurate with the nature of the objects of the collection in the repository; (3) has a statewide scope of collection; (4) has a statewide scope of knowledge dissemination; (5) maintains a museum certification issued by a nationally recognized entity; (6) complies with 25 U.S.C. 3001 — 3013 (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act); and (7) meets other standards established in regulation by the department. (c) The department shall maintain a list of designated repositories. (d) A repository may accept and expend funds from any available source, including federal and state grants and donations, for the purpose of acquiring, cataloging, curating, and preserving state natural and cultural history collections. (e) A designation of a repository confers no acquisition, management, or other rights to the department over the collections held by a designated repository. (f) In this section, “institution” means a museum, a cultural center, or an affiliated research component of a museum or cultural center. Sec. 14.57.015. Accounting and disposition of receipts. [Repealed, § 92 ch 36 SLA 1990.] Sec. 14.57.020. Museum Collections Advisory Committee. (a) There is created in the department the State Museum Collections Advisory Committee consisting of five members appointed by the board to serve at the board's pleasure for staggered three-year terms. The appointees shall be broadly representative of the public's interest in the preservation of the human, cultural, natural, archeological, and anthropological history of Alaska. When possible, some of the committee members shall be known for, or possess, special expertise or a culturally relevant background in these aspects of the art and history of the state. (b) A member appointed to fill a vacancy serves for the unexpired term of the member succeeded. Sec. 14.57.030. Officers; meetings, rules of procedure, quorum. (a) The committee shall elect a chair from among its members. (b) The committee shall meet at least once every six months and at the call of its chair, on petition of a majority of its members, or at the call of the commissioner, or the director of the museum, at a mutually convenient time and place both for the members of the committee and for interested members of the public. A meeting of the committee may be held by teleconference. (c) The committee shall adopt rules of procedure to govern its meetings. A majority of the members of the committee constitutes a quorum. Sec. 14.57.040. Compensation; per diem, travel expenses. The members of the committee serve without compensation, but they are entitled to per diem and travel expenses as authorized by law for boards and commissions. Sec. 14.57.050. Collections management; acquisitions and dispositions. (a) On recommendation of the committee, the department shall adopt regulations governing the museum's in-house acquisitions committee, and the management and disposition of artifacts, natural history specimens, art objects, collections or other items, materials, or properties that are owned by, in the custody of, or are proposed for acquisition by, the state museum. The regulations must be consistent with AS 14.57.200 — 14.57.290. (b) Artifacts, natural history specimens, art objects, collections, or other items, materials, or properties that relate to the history of Alaska and are appropriate for preservation in the state museum of a value of $5,000 or more may not be acquired by purchase, gift, or exchange, or otherwise nor may any item owned by, or in the custody of, the state museum be disposed of by sale, gift, exchange, or otherwise, without the written approval of the committee. In recommending the acquisition or disposal of an item under this subsection for the state museum, the committee shall evaluate the need for the item or collection proposed for acquisition or disposal with reference to the scope of collections of the state museums. (c) The committee may obtain an independent, professional appraisal of the value of each item to be acquired or disposed of by or for the state museum. Sec. 14.57.060. Advisory duties. The committee shall act in an advisory capacity to the board as to the general acquisition and deaccession policies and programs of the state museum. Sec. 14.57.070. Conflict of interest. (a) A member of the committee may not act on a matter relating to the state museum in which the member's relationship with another person or with respect to the acquisition or disposition of an item owned by, in custody of, or proposed to be acquired by or for the state museum creates a conflict of interest. A committee member may not (1) have a pecuniary or property interest in an item that is proposed to be acquired or disposed of by or for the state museum; (2) have a pecuniary or property interest, directly or indirectly, in a contract to which the museum, or the state on behalf of the museum, is a party; or (3) receive compensation for services rendered to the state museum as a consultant, expert, appraiser, or otherwise, except as provided in AS 14.57.040 . (b) Notwithstanding (a) of this section, a committee member may bequeath or donate an item to the state museum. Sec. 14.57.080. Definition. In AS 14.57.020 — 14.57.080, “committee” means the state Museum Collections Advisory Committee. Article 2. Use of Net Income of Alaska Heritage Endowment Fund. Sec. 14.57.100. Acquisitions. Subject to appropriation by the legislature under AS 37.14.530 , the director may use the balance of the net income account of the Alaska heritage endowment fund to acquire culturally or historically significant artifacts, natural history specimens, art objects, collections, and other items, materials, or properties that represent and document Alaska's land, natural history, and people for (1) the Alaska State Museum; and (2) the Sheldon Jackson Museum. Sec. 14.57.110. Ownership of acquired items. Except when ownership of an item is transferred under AS 14.57.120 , an item acquired under AS 14.57.100 becomes the property of the state museum. Sec. 14.57.120. Criteria applicable to acquisitions from the fund. Subject to approval given by the Museum Collections Advisory Committee under AS 14.57.050 (b), the director may (1) establish by contract the terms and conditions of custody, protection, conservation, and exhibition of an item acquired by the state museum if the item is acquired and custody of it is assigned to another institution; (2) transfer ownership of an item to an institution having custody of an item acquired from the net income account of the fund if the director is satisfied that the institution will provide necessary care and protection of the item; or (3) assign long-term custody of an item to an institution having custody of an item acquired from the net income account of the fund if the director is satisfied that the institution to which custody of the item is transferred will provide necessary care and protection of the item in accordance with a contract entered into under (1) of this section. Sec. 14.57.130. Disposition of acquired items. Subject to approval of the Museum Collections Advisory Committee under AS 14.57.050 (b), the director may establish a deaccession policy under which the director may exchange or otherwise convey title to an item acquired from the net income account of the fund in accordance with generally accepted principles governing the disposal of these items. Sec. 14.57.199. Definitions. In AS 14.57.100 — 14.57.199, (1) “director” means the director of the division of the department that has responsibility for state libraries, archives, and museums; (2) “fund” means the Alaska heritage endowment fund established in AS 37.14.500 ; (3) “net income account” means the account established in AS 37.14.510 . Article 3. Property Held by Museums. Sec. 14.57.200. Acquisition of title to loaned property. (a) A museum may acquire the title to documented property loaned to the museum if (1) at least seven years have passed after the expiration date of the loan without written or other contact between the lender and the museum; or (2) the loan does not have an expiration date and at least seven years have passed without written or other contact between the lender and the museum since the loan was made. (b) To acquire title to property under this section, the museum shall first send a notice by certified mail to the lender's latest address if the museum has an address for the lender. The notice must include (1) a statement that the loan is terminated; (2) a brief and general description of the property; (3) the date or approximate date, if known, when the owner loaned the property to the museum; (4) the name, address, and telephone number of the museum representative to contact for more information or to make a claim; (5) the lender's name and latest address; and (6) a statement that outlines the schedule and requirements for the museum to acquire title under this section. (c) If a valid claim is not received by the museum within 30 days from the date the notice was mailed under (b) of this section or if the museum does not have an address for the lender, the museum shall publish a notice at least once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district where the museum is located and, if the museum has an address for the lender, in (1) the judicial district in which the lender's latest address is located if the address is in this state; or (2) the county, borough, or other geographical organizational entity of the jurisdiction in which the lender's latest address is located if the address is in a jurisdiction other than this state. (d) The notice published under (c) of this section must contain (1) the information required for the notice in (b)(1) — (5) of this section; (2) the date of the last publication of the notice under (c) of this section; and (3) a statement that the museum will acquire title to the loaned property if a valid claim to the property is not received by the museum within 45 days from the date of the last publication of the notice under (c) of this section. (e) The museum acquires the title to the property, subject to reclamation of the property under AS 14.57.220 , as of the 46th day after the date of the last publication of the notice under (c) of this section, if the requirements of (a) — (d) of this section are satisfied and if a valid claim to the loaned property is not received by the museum within 45 days after the date of the last publication of the notice under (c) of this section. (f) In this section, “address” means a description of the location of the lender, as shown on a museum's records, that is sufficient for delivery by mail. Sec. 14.57.210. Acquisition of title to undocumented property. (a) A museum may acquire title to undocumented property held by a museum for seven years or longer if (1) the seven-year holding period is verified by the written records of the museum; (2) when this paragraph is applicable, the museum has notified by mail all corporations, except nonprofit corporations, created under 43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq. (Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) that the undocumented property appears to be a Native artifact, that the corporations are requested to view, identify, and catalog the property within one year after the notification, and that the museum may take steps to acquire title to the property after the one-year notification period and the seven-year holding period have expired without a person filing a claim with the museum that the person is the owner of the property; in this paragraph, the periods may run concurrently; and (3) during the seven-year holding period, or the longer period if expanded by the application of (2) of this subsection, a person has not filed a claim with the museum that the person is the owner of the property. (b) To acquire title under (a) of this section, the museum shall publish a notice at least once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district where the museum is located. The notice must include (1) a brief and general description of the property; (2) the date or approximate date, if known, of the acquisition of the property by the museum; (3) the name, address, and telephone number of the museum representative to contact for more information or to make a claim of ownership; (4) the date of the last publication of the notice under this subsection; and (5) a statement that the museum will acquire title to the property if a valid claim of an owner to the property is not received by the museum within 45 days from the date of the last publication of the notice under this subsection. (c) The museum acquires the title to the undocumented property, subject to reclamation of the property under AS 14.57.220 , as of the 46th day after the date of the last publication of the notice under (b) of this section if the requirements of (a) and (b) of this section are satisfied and if a valid claim of an owner to the property is not received by the museum within 45 days after the date of the last publication of the notice under (b) of this section. Sec. 14.57.220. Reclamation of property. In addition to any other right of reclamation the person may have under 25 U.S.C. 3001 — 3013 (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act), after title to documented property or undocumented property is acquired by a museum under AS 14.57.200 — 14.57.290, the lender or owner of the property has two years to bring an action in court against the museum to claim the property. If an action is not brought by the end of this two-year period and if the museum has taken its action under AS 14.57.200 — 14.57.290 in good faith, a person does not have a claim to the property against the museum, the museum's employees, or the museum's agents. Sec. 14.57.230. Museum obligations regarding loaned property. (a) A museum shall keep written records regarding loaned property for at least two years from the date of acquiring title to the property under AS 14.57.200 or 14.57.210. (b) A museum shall keep written records on all property it acquires by loan. The records must contain the owner's name, address, and the telephone number, the duration of the loan, and the beginning date of the loan period. (c) A museum is responsible for notifying a lender of the museum's change of location or elimination. (d) At the time the museum enters into the loan, the museum shall inform the lender of the requirements of AS 14.57.200 — 14.57.290. Sec. 14.57.240. Obligation of lenders. A lender shall notify the museum of a change of address or a change in the ownership of the loaned property in order to ensure the retention of rights to the loaned property. Sec. 14.57.250. Relationship to other laws. If AS 14.57.200 — 14.57.290 conflict with another provision of state law, AS 14.57.200 — 14.57.290 govern to the extent of the conflict. Sec. 14.57.290. Definitions. In AS 14.57.200 — 14.57.290, unless the context indicates otherwise, (1) “documented property” means property in the possession of a museum for which the museum has a reasonable means of determining the owner; (2) “lender” means a person whose name appears on the records of a museum as the person legally entitled to the property held by the museum; (3) “loan” or “loaned” means a deposit with or deposited with a museum if title to the property is not transferred to the museum or if the agreement for the deposit does not include a provision that the museum acquires title at some time after the deposit is made or an option for the museum to acquire title at some time after the deposit is made; (4) “museum” means an organized and permanent public institution, including a historical society, historical park, historical site, and historical monument, that is primarily educational, scientific, historical, artistic, or cultural in purpose and that owns, borrows, cares for, studies, archives, or exhibits property; (5) “property” means tangible animate or inanimate objects under a museum's care that have intrinsic educational, scientific, historical, artistic, aesthetic, or cultural value; (6) “undocumented property” means property in the possession of a museum for which the museum does not have a reasonable means of determining the owner.