1. Any property held by an institution for 3 years or more, to which no person has made claim, shall be deemed to be abandoned and, except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, becomes the property of the Division if the Administrator complies with the provisions of subsection 2.

2. The Administrator shall cause to be published in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the institution is located at least once a week for 2 consecutive weeks a notice and listing of the property. The notice must contain:

(a) The name and last known address, if any, of the last known owner of the property;

(b) A description of the property; and

(c) A statement that if proof of a claim is not presented by the owner to the institution and if the owner’s right to receive the property is not established to the Administrator’s satisfaction within 60 days after the date of the second published notice, the property will be considered abandoned and become the property of the Division.

3. If no claim has been made to the property within 60 days after the date of the second published notice, title, including literary rights, to the property vests in the Division, free from all claims of the owner and of all persons claiming through or under the owner.

4. If property deemed to be abandoned pursuant to subsection 1 is native Indian human remains or another cultural item of an Indian tribe, the Administrator shall:

(a) Provide notice to and consult with each applicable Indian tribe in the manner provided by NRS 381.0066;

(b) Determine which Indian tribe has the closest cultural affiliation to the human remains or other cultural item, in the manner provided by NRS 381.0067; and

(c) Return the human remains or other cultural item to the closest culturally affiliated Indian tribe in the manner provided by the repatriation process adopted pursuant to NRS 381.0069, if a request for repatriation is made.

5. To be deemed an object of cultural significance, an object must have ongoing historical, traditional or cultural importance central to an Indian tribe or culture itself, rather than property owned by a member of an Indian tribe, and which, therefore, cannot be alienated, appropriated or conveyed by any person, regardless of whether the person is a member of the Indian tribe. The object must have been considered inalienable by the Indian tribe at the time the object was separated from such group.

6. As used in this section:

(a) “Cultural item” means human remains, a funerary object, a sacred object or an object of cultural significance.

(b) “Object of cultural significance” means an object which meets the qualifications of subsection 5.

(c) “Sacred object” means a historic or prehistoric object that was or is needed by traditional religious leaders of an Indian tribe for the practice of the traditional religion of an Indian tribe.

(Added to NRS by 1985, 134; A 1993, 1587; 2001, 932, 1648; 2017, 3538)