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Personal property - 37 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 304

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     § 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. If the
        original donor was an individual, the original donor shall be
        notified, if he can be located, and, if the original donor is
        deceased, his children shall be notified, if they can be
        located, and be given an opportunity to reacquire the object,
        prior to its being offered at auction. If the original donor
        was not an individual, the original donor shall be notified,
        if it or its successor can be located, and be given an
        opportunity to reacquire the object, prior to its being
        offered at auction. The opportunity of an original donor to
        reacquire an object shall not be construed to diminish the
        commission's control over an historical artifact subsequent
        to its acquisition by the commission and prior to its
        disposition. 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).

        Effective Date.  Section 6(1) of Act 72 of 1988 provided that
     section 304(5) shall take effect in three years.

Last modified: November 27, 2007