NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON,Kan. — Kansas State Treasurer Steven Johnson is commemorating National Unclaimed Property Day on Feb. 1 with reminders for Kansans of how they can check to see if they have money they've forgotten about that is with his office.
"That's where we interact with most of our citizens," Johnson said. "A lot of the other things are intra-offices in the state government. If you go to https://kansascash.ks.gov/, the first icon on the State Treasurer's site is Search Unclaimed Property. Clicking on that icon will bring you to a search field, where you can put in last name, first name. If your name is as common as Steven Johnson, you will want to put in a city or a ZIP Code or something to narrow it a little bit. That, then will do a search to see if we are holding any property in your name."
Unclaimed property is a common problem.
"For something to be unclaimed, to get disconnected and not make it all the way through, there could be something like a change in name," Johnson said. "Searching maiden names are great. It could be a change in address, where a utility deposit didn't make it back to a student who moved from home to school and then again, those types of things. If you have a minute to search your name and then a few other family members, one in seven people have unclaimed property in Kansas."
It is always free to search and file claims for property through Johnson's office.
"When you see your name pop up, there's a little orange button that says, Claim," Johnson said. "You click on Claim and that will lead you into the claim process. If it's for yourself, you just click on owner and it's pretty simple."
If you're having trouble navigating the website, you can still call (785) 296-4165.