Kansas. Office of the State Treasurer

The Office of the State Treasurer is a constitutional office established in 1861 with Kansas statehood. The State Treasurer is entrusted with the possession of all public moneys paid to the state treasury. The Treasurer deposits moneys in Kansas banks designated as state depositories. The State Treasurer was designated as the fiscal agent for the State of Kansas in 1908. The registration of the issuance of municipal bonds was transferred to this office in 1975. As a consequence of legislation in the 1980s, the State Treasurer has become registrar and transfer agent for those Kansas registered form municipal bonds that designate the Treasurer as paying agent. The office also seeks to return various forms of unclaimed property to the rightful owner or heirs. The State Treasurer has the authority to take possession of specified types of abandoned personal property and become custodian in perpetuity, which preserves the right of the original owner or other persons to claim the property. [Kansas State Treasurer. "Divisions." http://www.kansasstatetreasurer.com/prodweb/div_1.php (accessed February 26, 2009.)] [Wilder, Bessie E. Governmental Agencies of the State of Kansas, 1861-1956. Governmental research series, no. 4, rev. [Lawrence]: Governmental Research Center, University of Kansas, 1957.]