Sen. Sally Doty, R-Brookhaven, on Friday is hosting an event to return unclaimed property to District 39 residents.

The event is from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Lincoln County Library.

When a company or organization in the state attempts to send money to someone and is unable to, that money gets sent to the state Treasurer’s Office as unclaimed property.

“The State Treasurer keeps a list of money that is returned to the Treasurer’s Office by different groups in the state,” Doty said. “These are monies that might be a utility deposit, or a lot of times it could be a small investment that for some reason needs to be returned. But they aren’t able to get the right address for you or they have the wrong name — something has gotten messed up. The companies have to try to reach you so many times, and if they can’t, they just turn that money over to the state treasurer.

“I would love to invite anyone to come in and look at the list. They might see a family member, a neighbor or someone on there. It’s my goal to get this money out to my constituents. It should not be sitting in the state Treasurer’s Office.”

Doty will bring staff from the Treasurer’s Office in to help. Doty said anyone can claim their property now, but the process can be confusing.

“They have a website,” Doty said. “Anybody can go to it and plug their name in to see if it’s on the list, but I have a list printed from my Senate district. I’m going to have people from the state Treasurer’s Office there, because it’s very helpful to have them. If your name is on the list, you have to fill out a form, and sometimes it is something that is a bit convoluted. There’s some mistake usually that’s gotten that money there. They can help sort through issues and help you claim that money that is rightfully yours.”

Two weeks ago, Doty said she was able to return $21,000 to one retired couple in Brookhaven.

“I went over the list and marked those that had over $1,000 and have been trying to call those people. They got a letter from the treasurer’s office and the wife said, ‘Well, I figured it was just $10 or $15. I just didn’t think it was anything to worry with.’ She told me that and I said, ‘No, no, no. It is $21,000.’ And it was part of her husband’s retirement or pension. So within 10 days, they had a check. That was their money to begin with.”

Doty said everyone is invited.

“If anyone just wants to come and talk politics with me, that’ll be fine, too,” Doty said. “I’ll be glad to answer any questions. This would be a good time to have some one-on-one if anybody wants to come visit.”