MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2021 Regular Session
To: Education; Judiciary B
By: Representative Turner
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO PROVIDE BY RULE FOR A PROGRAM TO IDENTIFY MISSING MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL CHILDREN WHO ARE ENROLLED IN MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN KINDERGARTEN THROUGH GRADE 12; TO REQUIRE EACH SCHOOL AND DAY CARE OF A MISSING CHILD TO FLAG SUCH CHILD'S RECORDS; TO REQUIRE SUCH SCHOOL OR DAY CARE TO NOTIFY LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT EACH TIME THAT A MISSING CHILD'S RECORDS ARE REQUESTED; TO AMEND SECTION 43-15-401, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REGULATES LAW ENFORCEMENT POLICIES REGARDING MISSING CHILDREN, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 45-41-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDES FOR THE MISSISSIPPI SILVER ALERT ACT OF 2010, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTIONS; TO AMEND SECTION 41-57-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH TO FORMULATE AND PROMULGATE RULES AND REGULATIONS TO CREATE A CENTRALIZED DATABASE OF MISSING CHILDREN BORN IN THIS STATE; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO MAKE DESIGNATION ON THE BIRTH CERTIFICATES OF ALL MISSING CHILDREN BORN IN THIS STATE; TO AMEND SECTION 37-15-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ADD WHETHER A CHILD IS MISSING TO PERMANENT SCHOOL RECORD REQUIREMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) The Mississippi Department of Education shall provide by rule for a program to identify missing Mississippi school children who are enrolled in Mississippi public school districts in kindergarten through Grade 12. For purposes of this section, a "missing Mississippi school child" means for the purposes of this section as a child eighteen (18) years of age or younger whose whereabouts are unknown. Pursuant to such program, the department shall:
(a) Collect each month a list of missing Mississippi school children as provided by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. The list shall be designed to include such information as the department deems necessary for the identification of the missing school child.
(b) Compile a list of missing Mississippi school children using the information collected pursuant to paragraph (a), and provide the list monthly to all public school districts admitting children to kindergarten through Grade 12. The list shall include the names of all such missing children, together with such other information as the department deems necessary. Each school district shall distribute this information to the public schools in the district by whatever manner it deems appropriate.
(c) Notify the appropriate local, state, or federal law enforcement authority as soon as any additional information is obtained or contact is made with respect to a missing Mississippi school child.
(2) Every public school district in this state shall notify the Department of Education at its earliest known contact with any child whose name appears on the department's list of missing Mississippi school children.
SECTION 2. (1) Upon notification by any law enforcement agency that a child is listed or reported as a missing child, the school or day care facility, as applicable, in which the child is currently enrolled, or was previously enrolled, shall flag the student records in such a manner that whenever a copy of or information concerning the records of the missing child is requested, the person authorized to provide such copy or information is alerted to the fact that the child has been listed or reported as missing. Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede the provisions of law regulating the confidentiality of school records.
(2) The school or day care shall immediately report to the local law enforcement agency any request concerning such student records, and shall report any information regarding the request that may assist law enforcement agencies in locating the missing child.
(3) Any school or day care or any employee thereof providing notification and information in good faith shall be immune from civil liability for reporting and providing the information.
(4) Upon notification by the contacting law enforcement agency that the records no longer need to be flagged, the school or day care shall remove the flag from the student records.
(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, an employee of the state or a local governmental agency, a person who is employed under a contract with the state or a local governmental agency, or an employee of a public or private school within the state shall promptly report to the local law enforcement agency any information received or possessed that could assist in:
(a) Locating a child who has been reported as missing.
(b) Ascertaining the identity of the person who has actual custody of a missing child.
(c) Determining whether a missing child is in danger of physical injury or death.
(6) Any person who makes a report in good faith to a law enforcement agency as required by this section shall be immune from civil liability for such action.
(7) A person who knowingly provides false information concerning a missing child or the efforts to locate and return a missing child whose parent, family member, or guardian reported the child missing shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and fined not less than Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) for each false report.
(8) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to waive any confidentiality requirements related to the student records of public or private schools and day care facilities. The applicable school or day care shall confirm that local law enforcement or the Department of Public Safety is receiving the information in this section.
SECTION 3. Section 43-15-401, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
43-15-401. (1) Law enforcement agencies in this state shall adopt written policies that specify the procedures to be used to investigate reports of missing children. The policies must ensure that cases involving missing children are investigated promptly using appropriate resources and are in compliance with the requirements of this section and 42 USCS 5779 and 5780. The policies must include:
(a) Procedures for accepting and filing missing child reports;
(b) Procedures for initiating, maintaining, closing or referring a missing child investigation;
(c) Procedures for the prompt and open transfer of information where multiple jurisdictions and agencies are involved in the investigation; and
(d) Standards for maintaining and clearing data concerning a missing child that is stored in the National Crime Information Center. The standards must require, at a minimum, a monthly review of each case and a determination of whether the case should be maintained in the database.
(2) A law enforcement agency shall not adopt rules, regulations or policies that prohibit or discourage the filing of a report or the taking of any action on a report that a child is a missing child or that a child is believed to be a missing child. For purposes of this section and in compliance with federal law, a runaway child is a missing child and shall not be excluded as such based solely on the fact the child has voluntarily absented himself from his normal place of residence.
(3) A law enforcement agency shall not establish a mandatory waiting period before accepting a missing child report and beginning an investigation to locate a missing child.
(4) An entry concerning a missing child may not be removed from the National Crime Information Center database based solely on the age of the missing child.
(5) Upon receiving a report that a child is missing, the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction shall immediately:
(a) File a report or cause a report to be filed in the county or municipality where the child resides or in which the child was last seen or both and with the school or day care, as applicable, the child last attended. Nothing in this subsection (5) shall preclude a law enforcement agency from accepting a missing child report when jurisdiction cannot be determined;
(b) Institute or assist with appropriate search and investigative procedures;
(c) Inform all on-duty law enforcement officers within the agency of the missing child report; and
(d) Transmit the report for inclusion within the National Crime Information Center database within the time frame required by federal law. Law enforcement agencies having the duty to enter the missing child report into the National Crime Information Center database shall provide any information required by the National Crime Information Center to effectuate the purpose of this section.
(6) Upon receiving a missing child report, as provided in subsection (5) of this section, the law enforcement agency that entered the report into the National Crime Information Center shall:
(a) No later than thirty (30) days after the original entry of the record into the National Crime Information Center computer networks, verify and update such record with any additional information, including, where available, medical and dental records and a photograph taken during the previous one hundred eighty (180) days;
(b) Notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of each report received relating to a missing foster child.
(7) Upon receiving a missing child report, the law enforcement agency shall consider whether the circumstances under which the child went missing satisfy the criteria necessary for the issuance of an Amber Alert and, where applicable, shall immediately submit to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation all required paperwork and documents necessary to request the issuance of an Amber Alert.
(8) Any person or institution reporting, in good faith, a child to be missing shall be immune from any liability, civil or criminal, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed.
SECTION 4. Section 45-41-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-41-1. (1) This section shall be known and cited as the "Mississippi Silver Alert System Act of 2010."
(2) The Legislature finds that:
(a) Wandering is a common behavior among those persons with dementia or other cognitive impairments that causes great concern for the families and caregivers of this state;
(b) This state is not currently equipped with the systems necessary to locate those with dementia or other cognitive impairments in a timely manner, with the unfortunate result that some individuals are never returned home to their families; and
(c) It is imperative that this state develops a plan to ensure that if an individual with dementia or other cognitive impairments is missing, the appropriate infrastructure is available and can be easily and timely activated to protect the health and safety of these vulnerable citizens.
(3) When used in this section, unless the context requires a different definition, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "E911" means Enhanced Universal Emergency Number Service or Enhanced 911 Service, which is a telephone exchange communications service by which a Public Safety Answering Point designated by the county or local communication district may receive telephone calls dialed to the telephone number 911.
(b) "First responders" means state and local law enforcement personnel, fire department personnel, emergency medical personnel, emergency management personnel and public works personnel who may be deployed to bioterrorism attacks, terrorist attacks, catastrophic or natural disasters and emergencies.
(c) "Originating local law enforcement agency" means a local police or sheriff's office that has jurisdiction over the area where a person became missing.
(4) (a) The Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Public Safety shall implement a statewide "Silver Alert System" that has the purpose of providing a tiered, rapid response system to notify the public about missing endangered adults, who are age 18 or older, with dementia or other cognitive or physical impairments. The initial response may be local, statewide or national based on available information about the missing person.
(b) A Silver Alert activation request may be made only by a law enforcement agency, and the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Public Safety may only activate a Silver Alert after a request is made.
(c) To activate a Silver Alert, all of the following criteria must be met:
(i) The missing adult, age 18 or older, is believed to have dementia or other cognitive or physical impairments;
(ii) The person is believed to be missing and in imminent danger regardless of circumstance;
(iii) The family, legal caregiver or custodian of the missing person has submitted a missing person's report to the local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the person became missing, with all waiting periods being waived; and
(iv) The law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction of where the person became missing reports the incident to the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Public Safety through the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters Communication Center.
(d) To initiate a request to activate a Silver Alert, the family, legal caregiver or custodian of the missing person must file immediately a report of the missing person with the local law enforcement agency where the person became missing that includes the following information:
(i) A description of the missing person including physical characteristics, clothing and photos, if available;
(ii) A description of the known circumstances under which the person became missing including the time, place, direction, possible destinations, whether the person is walking or in a vehicle, and all other pertinent information concerning where the person may have become missing; and
(iii) Updates on the missing person as new information becomes available.
(e) The originating local law enforcement agency, after completing the investigation expeditiously and determining that the case meets the qualifying criteria prescribed in this section, shall:
(i) Waive in the case of a Silver Alert, any waiting periods for a missing person's report in order to galvanize the appropriate communities rapidly to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the missing person;
(ii) Notify the Mississippi Highway Patrol Headquarters Communication Center and electronically send to the center the completed Silver Alert forms and available photos, signed by the police chief, sheriff, commanding officer or his or her designee;
(iii) Enter the information into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC);
(iv) Using a tiered approach based on known circumstances, initiate an alert bulletin to all local law enforcement, E911 and first responder agencies to search the immediate area;
(v) Activate secondary alert systems to residents, businesses, and broadcast media in the immediate area;
(vi) Provide a twenty-four-hour phone number to receive calls while continuing the investigation; and
(vii) Update the family, legal caregiver or custodian of the missing person as new information becomes available.
(5) (a) After the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Public Safety has been contacted by a local law enforcement agency requesting a Silver Alert activation, the Criminal Information Center shall consider before the activation of the Silver Alert procedures by the Silver Alert coordinator, or his or her designee, the information contained in the initial Silver Alert report form to ensure that it meets all criteria specified in subsection (4)(c) of this section. Elements of the missing person case to be considered are:
(i) Threat of imminent harm or death to the missing person because of age, health, mental or physical disability, environmental or weather conditions;
(ii) Time of initial report in relation to the time of disappearance, including whether the disappearance is unexplained, involuntary or is under suspicious circumstances;
(iii) Believed to be walking or in a vehicle;
(iv) Witness information;
(v) Possible domestic dispute involving the missing person; and
(vi) Other facts that indicate the missing person is in danger of serious injury or death, including whether there is possible criminal intent toward the missing person or whether someone witnessed the disappearance.
(b) Each case shall be reviewed on its own merits, and if there are extenuating circumstances, the required criteria in this section may be amended or expanded depending on the merits presented.
(c) Only the Silver Alert coordinator, or his or her designee, may authorize activation of a statewide Silver Alert and if an activation is authorized, the Criminal Information Center shall:
(i) Prepare an announcement concerning the missing person;
(ii) Contact the designated media stations to activate the alert; and
(iii) Request the Mississippi Department of Transportation to activate electronic signs, if appropriate.
(d) If the missing person is believed to be in a vehicle, the Silver Alert coordinator shall send information and available photos via emails and fax to the statewide communications systems, news media and other forms of public communication or electronic resources.
(6) (a) Following the initial alert, a Silver Alert broadcast shall be updated by television and radio stations as necessary until such time that an end of alert message is received from the law enforcement agency that requested the initial Silver Alert.
(b) Local and statewide broadcast stations shall exercise their own independent discretions as to whether to repeat the required broadcasts prescribed in this section more frequently and shall determine the frequency in which the alert is re-broadcast following the initial alert.
(c) The Silver Alert termination notification shall be issued twenty-four (24) hours after the airing of the latest and most current information or when the case has been resolved and verification from the originating local law enforcement agency has been received by the Department of Public Safety.
(7) (a) If the circumstances of a person's disappearance do not meet the criteria for a Silver Alert to activate statewide communication systems, the Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Public Safety may offer an alternate form of mass notification as provided in this section.
(b) The alternate form of mass notification may be an email that includes a photograph and the Silver Alert initial reporting form that is sent through a statewide network of law enforcement and first responder agencies, news media offices and other forms of public communication.
(c) The email authorized in paragraph (b) of this subsection (7) shall contain information taken from the Silver Alert initial reporting form that is submitted by the originating local law enforcement agency.
(d) The email alerting news media and law enforcement agencies of a person's disappearance that does not meet the criteria of a Silver Alert activation shall include the following paragraph at the beginning of the email:
"The (name of law enforcement agency) has requested the following information be provided to the Mississippi news media and law enforcement agencies: At the present time, information being provided to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety by the (name of law enforcement agency) does not meet the criteria to activate a Silver Alert. It is left to the discretion of each law enforcement agency and news department receiving this email as to whether the attached information, regarding the disappearance of this person and/or the photograph of this person, will be released to the public."
(e) If further investigation into the disappearance produces evidence that may change the initial circumstances as reported to local law enforcement, the Department of Public Safety may reconsider activating a Silver Alert.
SECTION 5. Section 41-57-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-57-7. (1) The State Board of Health shall formulate and promulgate rules and regulations for the proper reporting and registration of morbidity and vital statistics, prescribing the method and form of making such registration.
Each application or filing made under this section shall include the social security number(s) of the applicant in accordance with Section 93-11-64, Mississippi Code of 1972.
(2) The State Board of Health shall formulate and promulgate rules and regulations to compile a centralized database of missing children born in this state. The board shall also promulgate rules and regulations to flag or designate the birth certificates of missing children born in this state; and require law enforcement to be notified whenever such birth certificates are requested.
SECTION 6. Section 37-15-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-15-1. The State Board of Education shall prepare and provide necessary forms for keeping permanent records and cumulative folders for each pupil in the public schools, including charter schools, of the state. In the permanent record and cumulative folders, the teachers and principals shall keep information concerning the pupil's date of birth, as verified by the documentation authorized in this section, record of attendance, grades and withdrawal from the school, including the date of any expulsion from the school and a description of the student's act or behavior resulting in the expulsion, and whether the child is missing. The records also shall contain information pertaining to immunization and such other information as the State Board of Education may prescribe. The cumulative folder, in addition to that information maintained in the permanent records, also shall contain such other information as the State Board of Education shall prescribe. It shall be the responsibility of the person in charge of each school to enforce the requirement for evidence of the age of each pupil before enrollment. If the first prescribed evidence is not available, the next evidence obtainable in the order set forth below shall be accepted:
(a) A certified birth certificate;
(b) A duly attested transcript of a certificate of baptism showing the date of birth and place of baptism of the child, accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by a parent, grandparent or custodian;
(c) An insurance policy on the child's life which has been in force for at least two (2) years;
(d) A bona fide contemporary Bible record of the child's birth accompanied by an affidavit sworn to by the parent, grandparent or custodian;
(e) A passport or certificate of arrival in the United States showing the age of the child;
(f) A transcript of record of age shown in the child's school record of at least four (4) years prior to application, stating date of birth; or
(g) If none of these evidences can be produced, an affidavit of age sworn to by a parent, grandparent or custodian. Any child enrolling in kindergarten or Grade 1 shall present the required evidence of age upon enrollment. Any child in Grades 2 through 12 not in compliance at the end of sixty (60) days from enrollment shall be suspended until in compliance.
SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2021.