An inmate complained that a prison had lost some of his property and was refusing to accept a claim for reimbursement from him. The Ombudsman discovered that the property in question accompanied the inmate when he was transferred from a contract facility in Hudson, Colorado back to an Alaska prison in 2013. The inmate has remained at the same facility since that transfer. At the time of transfer the inmate had several items that were not then, and never have been, allowed in the Alaska prison. By policy, and by the admission of prison staff, the items were supposed to be stored in the inmate’s excess property box. The inmate recently discovered that these items were no longer in his excess property. The facility refused to accept the inmate’s lost property claim stating that it was untimely. The facility was unable to give the Ombudsman an adequate explanation for the disappearance of the property. Without the paper trail, the superintendent agreed to reimburse the inmate for the property. (A2016-0438)