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Former Ohio Officials Sue Over $1.7 Billion Unclaimed Funds Raid for Browns Stadium

Contending that the budget’s seizure of dormant property violates constitutional safeguards, the lawsuit seeks to enjoin the Browns stadium allocation.

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Overview

  • On July 7–8, former Attorney General Marc Dann and ex-Rep. Jeff Crossman filed a class-action in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Cuyahoga County residents to block the diversion of $1.7 billion from Ohio’s unclaimed property fund, including $600 million for a new Browns stadium in Brook Park.
  • The suit alleges the budget’s escheatment provision breaches the U.S. Constitution’s due process and takings clauses as well as the Ohio Constitution’s bans on private property seizure and fiduciary breaches.
  • Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to stop the state from using dormant unclaimed funds for professional sports and other cultural facility projects and demand a jury trial on any monetary or legal claims.
  • Senate Republicans led by Finance Chair Jerry Cirino argue that the legislature has authority to repurpose idle assets and note that owners have ten years to reclaim their unclaimed property.
  • No Ohio court has previously ruled on this form of escheatment, though lawmakers have redirected about $1.3 billion from the fund since 1967 and at least four other states operate similar unclaimed property laws without judicial reversal.