Illinois Statutes Chapter 765. Property § 1020/27. Lost goods, money, etc.; information to owner; affidavit; record in estray book; records of county clerk; sale of perishable goods

§ 27. If any person or persons find any lost goods, money, bank notes, or other choses in action, of any description whatever, such person or persons shall inform the owner thereof, if known, and shall make restitution of the same, without any compensation whatever, except such compensation as shall be voluntarily given on the part of the owner. If the owner is unknown and if such property found is of the value of $100 or upwards, the finder or finders shall, within 5 days after such finding file in the circuit court of the county, an affidavit of the description thereof, the time and place when and where the same was found, that no alteration has been made in the appearance thereof since the finding of the same, that the owner thereof is unknown to the affiant and that the affiant has not secreted, withheld or disposed of any part thereof. The court shall enter an order stating the value of the property found as near as the court can ascertain. A certified copy of such order and the affidavit of the finder shall, within 10 days after the order was entered, be transmitted to the county clerk to be recorded in his estray book, and filed in the office of the county clerk.

If any property found consists of perishable goods, the court shall, at the time the finder presents the affidavit, order that the property be sold at public auction to the highest bidder. The court in the order shall provide for the giving of reasonable notice of the time and place of such sale. The court shall conduct or supervise such sale and shall enter in the order the amount received from the sale which entry shall be included in the certified copy to be transmitted to the county clerk. The proceeds of the sale, after deducting costs and other expenses shall be turned over to the finder. The finder shall hold such proceeds in lieu of the goods for the owner of the goods sold and shall give such proceeds, after deducting his expenses, to such owner, if the owner claims the same within the time provided by Section 28.