State Treasurer’s Office Returned $155 Million to Rightful Owners Last Year

You’ve probably heard stories about so called “I-Cash” events in the Illinois Valley and across the state, where you can look to see if the State is holding any unclaimed property for you. But, have you ever wondered how much money people actually get back?

The Illinois Treasurer’s Office released the amount it returned to owners last year, and it was a record amount. According to Treasurer Michael Frerichs, more than $155 Million was returned last year.

The money ends up at their office because they are responsible for hanging on to things like life insurance benefits, forgotten bank accounts, and other things you may have forgotten about. In total the state has about $2 Billion in unclaimed property.

If you want to check to see if they may be holding anything of yours, you can always check that here for free.

State Troopers had a Busy June in the Illinois Valley

While they primarily stick to the Interstates, it was still a busy month for State Police in June.

In the district that includes the Illinois Valley, State Troopers received nearly 1,900 calls last month. As for traffic enforcement, they were active there as well.

They gave out 485 tickets last month, including 11 DUI arrests and 16 arrests for other alcohol-related offenses. On the criminal side, they brought in 14 for alleged criminal offenses while 1 person had been wanted on an outstanding warrant.

The good news is, while State Troopers had to handle 60 traffic crashes in the Illinois Valley, none of those were fatal accidents.

Mautino given a couple weeks to provide answers to spending questions

Former state representative Frank Mautino has a little more time to come up with campaign spending answers.

According to the NewsTribune, the Illinois State Board of Elections Monday granted Mautino and his attorney additional time to present reports on his spending before he became auditor general. Specifically questions have been raised about money spent at Spring Valley City Bank and Happy’s Service Station.

The board did deny a request by Mautino to delay the state investigation. There’s also a federal investigation underway involving Mautino.