The first to convert to stock ownership was Met Life, whose transfer agent, Melon Bank, sent the Utahns' stock assets to ACS, the company that Utah contracts with for transfer services.

Unclaimed Property administrator Kim Oliver says that because many policies were taken out by individuals for their children or other relatives, it has been difficult to find those who now are the stockholders. Many of the policies go back decades.

Because about 40,000 claims worth about $1 million were dumped onto the Unclaimed Property rolls, Oliver says the ads her division placed in newspapers listing names of those due unclaimed property jumped from 40 pages in 2005 to 48 pages in 2006 - the same number of pages of the ads that ran in local newspapers this week for the 2008 list.

The latest to convert is Prudential, whose stockholders represent 7,000 unclaimed properties in this year's list for a total of about $3 million.

While the assets remain in the Unclaimed Property Fund forever - until they are claimed - the state earns interest on the fund.

All good deeds . . . Insurance company conversions aren't the only source of windfalls for the state's Unclaimed Property account. Sometimes they inadvertently come from politicians looking for an image bump during an election year.

When the Salt Lake County Council determined in 2004 the sanitation fund the county gets from garbage pickup and landfill dumping fees had grown too large, some council members wanted to reduce the fees or give residents a credit.

But then-Council Chairman Steve Harmsen and Mayor Nancy Workman wanted instead to mail each resident a $75 rebate. They prevailed, so thousands of residents got their rebate checks along with a personal note signed by - you guessed it - Steve Harmsen and Nancy Workman.

It didn't work. Harmsen lost to Democratic challenger Jenny Wilson and Workman had to drop out of the race because of criminal charges - which she eventually beat - that were filed against her by Democratic District Attorney Dave Yocom.

Nearly 2,000 checks totaling $150,000 were returned as undeliverable, so they all ended up in the state's Unclaimed Property Fund.

One of those checks, by the way, was to Unclaimed Property Manager Kim Oliver.

Where's that smiling face? For the first election year in memory, State Treasurer Ed Alter's picture is not on the ad telling people they may have property or money coming to them.

You don't suppose that's because he is not running for re-election, do you?

prolly@sltrib.com