§ 121-7. Historical museums.
§ 121‑7. Historicalmuseums.
(a) The Department ofCultural Resources shall maintain and administer State historic attractionsunder the management of the Office of Archives and History for the collection,preservation, study, and exhibition of authentic artifacts and other historicalmaterials relating to the history and heritage of North Carolina. TheDepartment, with the approval of the Historical Commission, may acquire, eitherby purchase, gift, or loan such artifacts and materials, and, having acquiredthem, shall according to accepted museum practices classify, accession,preserve, and where feasible exhibit such materials and make them available forstudy. Within available funds, one or more branch museums of history orspecialized regional history museums may be established and administered by theDepartment. The Department of Cultural Resources, subject to the availabilityof staff and funds, may give financial, technical, and professional assistanceto nonstate historical museums sponsored by governmental agencies and nonprofitorganizations according to regulations adopted by the North Carolina HistoricalCommission.
The Department of CulturalResources may, with the explicit approval of the North Carolina HistoricalCommission sell, trade, or place on permanent loan any artifact owned by theState of North Carolina and in the custody of and curated by the Office ofArchives and History, unless the sale, trade, or loan would be contrary to theterms of acquisition. The net proceeds of any sale, after deduction of theexpenses attributable to that sale, shall be deposited to the State treasury tothe credit of the Office of Archives and History Artifact Fund and shall beused only for the purchase of other artifacts. No artifact curated by any agencyof the Department of Cultural Resources may be pledged or mortgaged.
(b) Insofar aspracticable, the Office of Archives and History shall accession and maintainrecords showing provenance, value, location, and other pertinent information onsuch furniture, furnishings, decorative items, and other objects as havehistorical or cultural importance and which are owned by or to be acquired bythe State for use in the State Capitol and the Executive Mansion, and, uponrequest of the Department of Administration, any other state‑ownedbuilding. When any such item or object has been entered in the accessionrecords of the Office of Archives and History, the custodian of such item orobject shall, upon its removal from the premises upon which it was located orwhen it is otherwise disposed of, submit to the Office of Archives and Historysufficient details concerning its removal or disposition to permit an adequateentry in the accession records to the end that its location or disposition, andauthority for such change, shall be shown therein.
(c) Title to anartifact whose ownership is unknown or whose owner cannot be located passes tothe Department of Cultural Resources if:
(1) The artifact wasplaced on loan with the Office of Archives and History for a period of timeexceeding five years or for an indefinite period of time or the artifact'sstatus with the Office of Archives and History as a loan, gift, purchase, orother arrangement is unknown; and
(2) The artifact hasbeen a part of the inventory of the Office of Archives and History for morethan five years; and
(3) The Department ofCultural Resources makes a reasonable effort, including a diligent search ofits own records, to locate and inform the owner, his heirs or successors, thatthe Office of Archives and History is holding the artifact and to clarify theartifact's status with that Office.
To initiate the procedure toclarify title to an artifact, the Department of Cultural Resources shall mail,first class postage prepaid, a notice to the last known address of the owner ofthe artifact or the last known address of the owner's heirs or successors. TheDepartment need not mail a notice, if after exercising due diligence to find arecord within the Department of Cultural Resources indicating the owner of theartifact and his latest address, that information is not available. If no claimis made within 90 days from the date that notice is mailed, the Department ofCultural Resources shall publish a notice in three papers of generalcirculation once a week for four consecutive weeks. If, at the end of 30 days,no claim of ownership is submitted to the Department of Cultural Resources, theDepartment may determine that legal title to the artifact is vested in theOffice of Archives and History.
(d) Any person claiminglegal title to an artifact to which the North Carolina Office of Archives andHistory also claims title as provided by subsection (c) may file a claim withthe Department of Cultural Resources on a form prescribed by the Department. Ifthe claimant is not the owner from whom the Department originally obtained theartifact, the claimant shall state in addition to any other informationrequired by the Department, the facts surrounding the unavailability of theperson who originally loaned or bestowed the property to the Office of Archivesand History and the basis for the claim to title of the artifact. If theDepartment of Cultural Resources is satisfied that the claim is valid and thatthe claimant is the legal owner of the artifact, the Department shall returnthe artifact to the owner. If the Department determines that the claim is notvalid and rejects the claim to the artifact, the claimant may appeal thedetermination as provided by Chapter 150B. (1973, c. 476, s. 48; 1979, c. 861, s. 1; 1987, c.721, s. 1; 1991, c. 689, s. 191(a); c. 757, s. 6; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c.769, s. 12.3; 1997‑411, s. 4; 2002‑159, s. 35(g).)