Larger amounts of unclaimed property dollars in South Dakota are expected to continue for a few years. That’s what one of the state’s chief financial officers said he’s hearing.
Unclaimed property is an asset that hasn’t had activity on it and is considered abandoned. These range from uncashed checks, bank accountants, to even physical items in safe deposit boxes. After three years, the state manages the assets.
Historically, unclaimed property receipts head towards the state’s general fund, and a portion is used to pay individuals who reclaim the assets.
The amount of unclaimed property receipts in South Dakota has increased every year since Fiscal Year 2020, with the largest spike coming in FY 25. The state’s receipts totaled $357 million.
For FY 26 to date, the state has received $242 million across nearly 385,000 properties.
Josh Haeder is the state treasurer. He said there are two reasons. The first was a specific instance.
“A couple of years ago we did see a large holder, in this case it was a financial institution, move their charter to South Dakota,” Haeder said. “That’s great news.”
Haeder said that financial institution should continue to produce unclaimed property receipts so long as the charter remains in South Dakota. He said the second reason has to do with the pandemic.
“We’ve seen a large influx in unclaimed property due to relocations from the COVID pandemic. I’ll explain why we’re still seeing that,” Haeder said. “Remember that holders, in this case financial institutions, have three years to contact clients prior to that being abandoned and then turned over to the state.”
Haeder told the Joint Appropriations Committee that financial institutions don’t expect that to stop just yet either.
“They estimate that we’ll see a fair amount of COVID dollars coming in for at least the next two-to-three years,” Haeder said. “Those are their words, and we’re still seeing that.”
During the 2025 Legislative Session, lawmakers passed a bill that would put a portion of unclaimed property dollars into a trust fund. Interest gained could be used to help pay off assets that get claimed. Currently, Haeder said the trust fund acts more as a money market savings account. It will be put to a state ballot vote in the future to unlock the full trust fund capabilities, though exact details aren’t known yet on when that would be.
Unclaimed property can be claimed by anyone, and the state attempts to return dollars where it can. In 2025, the state Treasurer's office returned $21.5 million. Anybody can see if they have unclaimed property by checking the state's unclaimed property website and searching, however it does take a multi-step process to regain the property.
