Yes. Ohio's 2025 state budget law directs nearly $1 billion in unclaimed funds toward sports and cultural facilities, with $600 million earmarked specifically for the Cleveland Browns' planned stadium in Brook Park. The provision survived the signing process intact, but it is now tangled in two separate lawsuits that have produced conflicting court rulings.
Unclaimed funds are money — old bank accounts, uncashed checks, forgotten security deposits — that businesses must turn over to the state when they can't locate the rightful owner. Ohio has historically held that money in trust for owners to reclaim at any time. The 2025 law changes that arrangement for a large slice of those dollars, and it affects anyone who has money sitting in Ohio's unclaimed funds system, whether they know it or not.
Table of Contents
- What the Budget Law Actually Does
- Why the Attorney General Objected
- What the Lawsuits Argue and Where They Stand
- Does This Affect Your Ability to Claim Your Own Money?
- Where the Stadium Project Stands Now
- Frequently Asked Questions
What the Budget Law Actually Does
House Bill 96, Ohio's two-year operating budget, was signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 1, 2025. Among hundreds of provisions, it authorizes roughly $1 billion in unclaimed funds escheated to the state to be redirected toward Ohio sports and cultural facilities. Of that, $600 million is earmarked for the Browns' planned domed stadium in Brook Park, with another $400 million reserved for future projects, according to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission's bill analysis.
The money flows into a newly created Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund. To free it up, the law also shortens the timeline before unclaimed property permanently escheats to the state, while giving owners a 10-year window — until January 1, 2036 — to file a claim before their funds are swept into that fund, per reporting from Engineering News-Record citing the Legislative Service Commission's analysis. In practice, this means dollars that once sat indefinitely in Ohio's unclaimed funds program, available to their owners whenever they came looking, now have a countdown attached. After that date, money that isn't claimed is no longer just held — it's spent.
Why the Attorney General Objected
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost urged DeWine to veto the stadium provision before the bill was signed. In his veto letter, Yost argued that a $600 million grant to a single professional sports facility raised fiscal-sustainability and fairness concerns, according to the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
DeWine signed the bill anyway, issuing only a narrower, unrelated line-item veto elsewhere in the budget. Yost's objection centered on using money that technically still belongs to private individuals and businesses — not the state — to finance a single team's stadium, rather than treating it as general tax revenue available for broader public use.
What the Lawsuits Argue and Where They Stand
Two separate court cases are challenging the diversion, and they've reached different conclusions. Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann and former state Rep. Jeff Crossman filed a class-action suit on July 7, 2025, in Franklin County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Ohioans with unclaimed funds, arguing the move violates the state's custodial duty to owners and the takings and due-process protections in the Ohio and U.S. Constitutions, according to Cleveland 19 News. In the state case, Franklin County Magistrate Jennifer Hunt issued a preliminary injunction pausing the fund transfer, finding the plaintiffs were substantially likely to succeed on the merits of their constitutional claim, Ohio Capital Journal reports.
A parallel federal suit over the same funds produced the opposite result. In December 2025, U.S. District Judge Edmund Sargus Jr. denied a federal injunction, reasoning that because owners can still reclaim their money until 2036, there was no irreparable harm — and that he lacked jurisdiction over the state-constitutional claims anyway, according to Ohio Capital Journal. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals later rejected the plaintiffs' bid for federal injunctive relief as well, holding that they have other avenues besides an injunction to pursue compensation. The practical result: the state-court injunction is the only thing currently blocking the $600 million transfer, and it remained unresolved as of the latest reporting.
Does This Affect Your Ability to Claim Your Own Money?
No change has been made to how you file a claim, and the law does not erase anyone's right to their own money before 2036. If you have unclaimed funds sitting with the state, you can still search for and claim them the same way you always could.
The broader unclaimed funds program kept functioning normally throughout the litigation. In fiscal year 2026, Ohio's Division of Unclaimed Funds processed 884,912 claims and paid out $182.57 million to 184,083 claimants, according to Ohio Capital Journal — evidence that routine claims are still being honored even as the stadium-specific money remains tied up in court.
- Check whether you have unclaimed funds through Ohio's official unclaimed funds search tool.
- File a claim as soon as you find a match — there's no reason to wait, even though the legal deadline tied to this law runs to January 1, 2036.
- Keep an eye on the litigation if you have a large balance, since the outcome could affect how aggressively the state treats long-dormant accounts going forward.
Where the Stadium Project Stands Now
The Browns broke ground on the new domed stadium in Brook Park in 2026. The roughly $2.4 billion project is targeted to open for the 2029 NFL season, according to Ohio Capital Journal and NFL reporting cited in the same coverage. Construction is moving forward even though the $600 million grant tied to unclaimed funds remains under a state-court injunction — meaning the team is building toward a 2029 opening without a final resolution on part of its public funding.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still claim my unclaimed funds while the lawsuits are pending?
Yes. The litigation hasn't changed the claims process, and owners have until January 1, 2036 to file before affected funds move into the new grant fund.
Has any of the $600 million actually been transferred to the Browns stadium yet?
As of the latest reporting, a Franklin County magistrate's preliminary injunction was blocking the transfer, even though a parallel federal case did not block it.
Why did the federal court rule differently than the state court?
The federal judge found no irreparable harm because owners can still reclaim money until 2036, and said he lacked jurisdiction over the state-constitutional claims the Franklin County case is built on.