JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri Treasurer Clint Zweifel spent more than $650,000 to run the newspaper advertisements listing the names of thousands of people with unclaimed property in state custody.
The treasurer's office is required by state law to publish the unclaimed property lists in general circulation newspapers serving the counties in which the people last lived. The lists raised eyebrows recently when they took up numerous pages in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and The Kansas City Star.
Records provided by the treasurer's office show the state saved money by using the two big papers instead of several smaller papers in the metro areas. The records show the treasurer's office paid $656,724 to run the notices in newspapers statewide during the fiscal year that ended in June.
