The Cooperative shall effect the forfeiture of all unclaimed funds, including all forms of distribution or capital credits, membership fees, deposits, and dividends, and shall do the following in connection therewith:
(1) No earlier than three years and no later than five years after the funds are first made available to the owners, the board of directors shall declare the funds forfeited to the Cooperative unless claimed by a specified date.
(2) After the declaration of forfeiture, the Cooperative shall give notice that states that the funds shall be forfeited if not claimed by the specified date, which date shall be a business day at least 60 days after the mailing of the notice.
(3) The notice under paragraph (2) shall be mailed to the last known address of each owner and shall be published on or before the date of mailing in a newspaper published in the municipality containing the service area of the Cooperative.
(4) The Cooperative shall dedicate any funds remaining unclaimed after the date specified in paragraph (2) to educational purposes, limited to providing scholarships or loans to students, or to charitable purposes, as the board of directors determines, within one year after the date the funds are declared forfeited under paragraph (1). Education purposes shall not include political purposes as defined in Section 11.01 (16), Wisconsin Statutes.
(b) At any time subsequent to the forfeiture under this bylaw, the owner of forfeited funds may submit a claim to the board of directors and if the board determines that the person owned the funds at the time of the forfeiture, it shall refund the funds to the person.
(c) The board of directors may establish a reasonable reserve for payment of claims, which reserve shall be credited to patrons in accordance with the ratio which their patronage bears to total patronage. This reserve shall be reimbursed for claims charged thereto, out of funds subsequently declared forfeited.

Restated Bylaws of St. Croix Electric Cooperative, Article IX, Section 6