32-2-1018. Claims -- order of payment -- priorities. (1) Except as otherwise provided by the Uniform Commercial Code, the order of payment of the debts of a mutual association liquidated by the department is as follows:

(a) the expense of liquidation, including compensation of agents, employees, and attorneys;

(b) all funds of any other mutual association in the process of liquidation by the department and placed on deposit by the department;

(c) all funds held by the mutual association in trust;

(d) debts due depositors or holders of cashier's checks, certified checks, and drafts on correspondent financial institutions or mutual associations, including protest fees paid by them on valid checks or drafts presented after closing of the mutual association, pro rata. All deposit balances of other financial institutions, mutual associations, or trust companies and all deposits of public funds of every kind except those actually placed on special deposit under the statutes providing for deposit, including those of the United States, this state, and every county, district, municipality, political subdivision, or public corporation of this state, whether secured or unsecured and whether deposited in violation of law or otherwise, are included within the terms of this subsection (1)(d) and take the same priority as debts due any other depositor. Accrued interest on savings accounts, certificates of deposit, or other interest-bearing contracts, up to the time of the closing of the mutual association, is considered as part of the debt due.

(e) interest on the classes of claims contained in subsections (1)(a) through (1)(d) without regard to the priority computed from the date of closing of the mutual association in accordance with the provisions of 25-9-205; and

(f) unliquidated claims for damages and similar claims.

(2) The department may, in its discretion, without regard to the priorities fixed in subsections (1)(c) through (1)(f) or in preference to the payment of any claims of creditors within those subsections, pay off and discharge any lien, claim, or charge against the assets or property of the mutual association in its hands and pay those sums it considers necessary for the preservation, maintenance, conservation, and protection of those assets and property and property on which the mutual association has liens by mortgage or otherwise. The department may create a fund or retain, in preference to the claim of any creditors in subsections (1)(c) through (1)(f), money for those purposes.

(3) Collateral that has been put up or pledged as security for the payment of bills payable by a mutual association or loans or discounts that have been outstanding as rediscounts of a mutual association prior to the closing of it is not available to the other creditors of the mutual association in whole or in part until the bills payable or rediscounts have been retired, after which offsets as provided in this section must be allowed.

(4) Deposits of a person, firm, or corporation in a mutual association that is in the possession of the department may be offset against any indebtedness subject to subsection (3).