Section 39-31 - Duplicates(a) Whenever it appears to the director of finance by clear proof satisfactory to the director of finance that any bond of the State, without bad faith upon the part of the owner, has been lost, stolen, destroyed wholly or in part, or so defaced as to impair its value to the owner; the lost, stolen, wholly or partially destroyed, or defaced bond is identified by number and description; and the request for issuance of a new bond was made before the director of finance had notice that the lost, stolen, wholly or partially destroyed, or defaced bond had been acquired by a bona fide purchaser; the director of finance, under such conditions and upon such security as prescribed in section 39-33, shall cause to be issued a duplicate thereof, with remaining unpaid coupons, if any, attached and so marked as to show the original number of the bond lost, stolen, wholly or partially destroyed, or defaced and the date thereof; provided that in the case of fully registered bonds the duplicate may be numbered in the manner as the registrar deems proper.(b) All duplicate bonds in coupon form issued in place of bonds lost, stolen, wholly or partially destroyed, or defaced shall be lithographed or steel engraved unless otherwise provided in the proceedings authorizing the issuance thereof, and shall bear the manual signatures of the director of finance or a duly authorized deputy director of finance and the comptroller, and an impression of the seal of the department of budget and finance shall be affixed thereon. Interest coupons shall bear a lithographed or engraved facsimile of the signature of the director of finance. Each signature of an officer on a duplicate coupon bond shall be the signature of the person serving as the officer on the date of signing and any duplicate coupon bond so executed and sealed shall be valid and sufficient for all purposes. All duplicate bonds in fully registered form issued in place of bonds lost, stolen, wholly or partially destroyed, or defaced shall be from the stock of fully registered bonds of the series then held by the registrar for that series and shall be executed, sealed, and authenticated in the same manner as fully registered bonds of that series. Any duplicate fully registered bond executed, sealed, and authenticated as provided in this section shall be valid and sufficient for all purposes. When the lost, stolen, wholly or partially destroyed, or defaced bond appears to have been of a class or series that has been called or will be called in for redemption or will mature within a period of one year following the date of application for a duplicate bond, instead of issuing a duplicate bond therefor, the director of finance, under conditions and upon such security, if any, as the director of finance may prescribe, may pay the bond at its call date with interest if it is already called for redemption or if it is to be called for redemption or will mature within the period of one year, or may issue a transferable certificate of ownership to the applicant, and pay on the certificate the call price of the bond represented thereby together with interest called for by the lost, stolen, wholly or partially destroyed, or defaced bond on the date of its call or its original maturity upon surrender of the certificate of ownership. All transferable certificates of ownership which may be issued pursuant to the terms hereof shall be in such form as the director of finance may prescribe and shall be signed by the director of finance or a duly authorized deputy director of finance and by the comptroller of the State, and an impression of the seal of the department of budget and finance shall be affixed thereto.
All expenses necessary for the providing of any duplicate bond, coupon, or both, as the case may be, or certificate of ownership shall be borne by the owner thereof and the expenses shall be paid at the time the request for replacement is filed.