diff --git a/casetracker_actions/casetracker_actions.module b/casetracker_actions/casetracker_actions.module
index 714192b..c9697a7 100644
--- a/casetracker_actions/casetracker_actions.module
+++ b/casetracker_actions/casetracker_actions.module
@@ -204,7 +204,24 @@ function casetracker_actions_set_assign_to_action_form($context) {
 }
 
 function casetracker_actions_set_assign_to_action_submit($form, $form_state) {
-  return array('assign_to' => $form_state['values']['casetracker_actions_assign_to']);
+  // check if value is a uid
+  if (!is_numeric($form_state['values']['casetracker_actions_assign_to'])) {
+    $user = user_load(array('name' => check_plain($form_state['values']['casetracker_actions_assign_to'])));
+  }
+  if (is_numeric($user->uid)) {
+    $assign_to = array('assign_to' => $user->uid);
+  }
+  else {
+    $assign_to = array('assign_to' => $form_state['values']['casetracker_actions_assign_to']);
+  }
+
+  return $assign_to;
+}
+
+function casetracker_actions_get_uid_by_name($name) {
+  $user = db_fetch_object(db_query("SELECT uid FROM users WHERE name=':username'", array(":username" => $name)));
+
+  return $user->uid;
 }
 
 /**