MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2023 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representative Shanks
AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSING PERSONS REPORTING AND IDENTIFICATION ACT; TO REQUIRE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO ACCEPT A REPORT OF A MISSING PERSON; TO PERMIT LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO ATTEMPT TO OBTAIN DNA OF THE MISSING PERSON OR A REFERENCE SAMPLE FROM A FAMILY'S MEMBER'S DNA TO BE SUBMITTED TO THE NATIONAL MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM (NAMUS) AND THE MISSISSIPPI FORENSIC DNA IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM OR THE NATIONAL DNA IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM; TO PROHIBIT A LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FROM ACCEPTING A MISSING PERSON REPORT; TO REQUIRE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO ACCEPT MISSING PERSON REPORTS IN PERSON; TO PROVIDE FOR THE INFORMATION THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY SHALL ATTEMPT TO GATHER REGARDING THE MISSING PERSON'S DISAPPEARANCE; TO REQUIRE THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO GENERATE A REPORT OF THE MISSING PERSON WITHIN THE NATIONAL MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM (NAMUS) IF THE PERSON IDENTIFIED REPORT REMAINS MISSING AFTER FIVE DAYS, BUT NOT MORE THAN FIFTEEN DAYS; TO DEFINE THE TERM "HIGH-RISK MISSING PERSON" AND THE PROCEDURES TO BE FOLLOWED BY LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES TO ENSURE THAT THOSE PERSONS ARE INPUT IN THE NATIONAL MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM (NAMUS); TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO ESTABLISH PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING HOW TO PRIORITIZE ANALYSIS OF THE SAMPLES RELATING TO MISSING PERSON CASES; TO REQUIRE THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY TO IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY ALL LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WITHIN THIS STATE AND THE SURROUNDING REGION OF INFORMATION THAT WILL AID IN THE PROMPT LOCATION AND SAFE RETURN OF HIGH RISK MISSING PERSONS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 43-15-401 AND 45-41-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENTS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Missing Persons Reporting and Identification Act.
SECTION 2. (1) All local law enforcement agencies shall accept without delay any report of a missing person and may attempt to obtain a DNA sample from the missing person or a DNA reference sample created from family members' DNA samples for submission under Section 3(3)(a) of this act. Acceptance of a missing person report filed in person may not be refused on any ground. No local law enforcement agency may refuse to accept a missing person report:
(a) On the basis that the missing person is an adult;
(b) On the basis that the circumstances do not indicate foul play;
(c) On the basis that the person has been missing for a short period of time;
(d) On the basis that the person has been missing a
long period of time;
(e) On the basis that there is no indication that the missing person was in the jurisdiction served by the local law enforcement agency at the time of the disappearance;
(f) On the basis that the circumstances suggest that the disappearance may be voluntary;
(g) On the basis that the reporting individual does not have personal knowledge of the facts;
(h) On the basis that the reporting individual cannot provide all of the information requested by the local law enforcement agency;
(i) On the basis that the reporting individual lacks a familial or other relationship with the missing person;
(j) On the basis of the missing person's mental state or medical condition; or
(k) For any other reason.
(2) All local law enforcement agencies shall accept missing person reports in person. Local law enforcement agencies are encouraged to accept reports by phone or by electronic or other media to the extent that such reporting is consistent with law enforcement policies or practices.
(3) In accepting a report of a missing person, the local law enforcement agency shall attempt to gather relevant information relating to the disappearance. The local law enforcement agency shall attempt to gather at the time of the report information that shall include, but shall not be limited to, the following:
(a) The name of the missing person, including alternative names used;
(b) The missing person's date of birth;
(c) The missing person's identifying marks, such as birthmarks, moles, tattoos, and scars;
(d) The missing person's height and weight;
(e) The missing person's gender;
(f) The missing person's race;
(g) The missing person's current hair color and true or natural hair color;
(h) The missing person's eye color;
(i) The missing person's prosthetics, surgical implants, or cosmetic implants;
(j) The missing person's physical anomalies;
(k) The missing person's blood type, if known;
(l) The missing person's driver's license number, if
known;
(m) The missing person's social security number, if known;
(n) A photograph of the missing person; recent photographs are preferable and the agency is encouraged to attempt to ascertain the approximate date the photograph was taken;
(o) A description of the clothing the missing person was believed to be wearing;
(p) A description of items that might be with the missing person, such as jewelry, accessories, and shoes or boots;
(q) Information on the missing person's electronic communications devices, such as cellular telephone numbers and e-mail addresses;
(r) The reasons why the reporting individual believes that the person is missing;
(s) The name and location of the missing person's school or employer, if known;
(t) The name and location of the missing person's
dentist or primary care physician or provider, or both, if known;
(u) Any circumstances that may indicate that the
disappearance was not voluntary;
(v) Any circumstances that may indicate that the missing person may be at risk of injury or death;
(w) A description of the possible means of transportation of the missing person, including make, model, color, license number, and Vehicle Identification Number of a vehicle;
(x) Any identifying information about a known or possible abductor or person last seen with the missing person, or both, including:
(i) Name;
(ii) A physical description;
(iii) Date of birth;
(iv) Identifying marks;
(v) The description of possible means of transportation, including make, model, color, license number and Vehicle Identification Number of a vehicle;
(vi) Known associates;
(y) Any other information that may aid in locating the missing person; and
(z) The date of last contact.
(4) (a) The local law enforcement agency shall notify the person making the report, a family member or other person in a position to assist the local law enforcement agency in its efforts to locate the missing person of the following:
(i) General information about the handling of the
missing person case or about intended efforts in the case to the extent that the local law enforcement agency determines that disclosure would not adversely affect its ability to locate or protect the missing person or to apprehend or prosecute any person criminally involved in the disappearance;
(ii) That the person should promptly contact the
local law enforcement agency if the missing person remains missing in order to provide additional information and materials that will aid in locating the missing person such as the missing person's credit cards, debit cards, banking information, and cellular telephone records; and
(iii) That any DNA samples provided for the missing person case are provided on a voluntary basis and will be used solely to help locate or identify the missing person and will not be used for any other purpose.
(b) The local law enforcement agency, upon acceptance of a missing person report, shall inform the reporting citizen of one (1) of two (2) resources, based upon the age of the missing person. If the missing person is under eighteen (18) years of age, contact information for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children shall be given. If the missing person is age eighteen (18) or older, contact information for the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) organization shall be given.
(c) The local law enforcement agency is encouraged to make available informational materials, through publications or electronic or other media, that advise the public about how the information or materials identified in this subsection are used to help locate or identify missing persons.
(d) If the person identified in the missing person report remains missing after five (5) days, but not more than fifteen (15) days, the local law enforcement agency shall generate a report of the missing person within the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS), and the local law enforcement agency shall attempt to obtain the additional information and materials that have not been received, specified below:
(i) DNA samples from family members or from the missing person along with any needed documentation, or both, including any consent forms, required for the use of state or federal DNA databases, including, but not limited to, the State of Mississippi Forensics Laboratory DNA Identification System, National DNA Identification System (NDIS), and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) partner laboratories;
(ii) An authorization to release dental or
skeletal x-rays of the missing person;
(iii) Any additional photographs of the missing
person that may aid the investigation or an identification; the local law enforcement agency is not required to obtain written authorization before it releases publicly any photograph that would aid in the investigation or identification of the missing person;
(iv) Dental information and x-rays; and
(v) Fingerprints.
(e) Samples collected for DNA analysis may be
submitted to a National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) partner laboratory or other resource where DNA profiles are entered into local, state, and national DNA identification systems within fifteen (15) days. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall establish procedures for determining how to prioritize analysis of the samples relating to missing person cases. All DNA samples obtained in missing person cases from family members of the missing person may not be retained after the location or identification of the remains of the missing person unless there is a search warrant signed by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(f) This subsection shall not be interpreted to preclude a local law enforcement agency from attempting to obtain the materials identified in this subsection before the expiration of the thirty-day period. The responsible local law enforcement agency may make a National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) report on the missing person within fifteen (15) days after the report of the disappearance of the missing person.
(g) Local law enforcement agencies are encouraged to establish written protocols for the handling of missing person cases to accomplish the purposes of this act.
SECTION 3. (1) For purposes of this section, the term "high-risk missing person" means a person whose whereabouts are not currently known and whose circumstances indicate that the person may be at risk of injury or death. The circumstances that indicate that a person is a high-risk missing person include, but are not limited to, any of the following:
(a) The person is missing as a result of a stranger abduction;
(b) The person is missing under suspicious circumstances;
(c) The person is missing under unknown circumstances;
(d) The person is missing under known dangerous circumstances;
(e) The person is missing more than five (5) days;
(f) The person has already been designated as a high-risk missing person by another local law enforcement agency;
(g) There is evidence that the person is at risk because:
(i) The person is in need of medical attention, including, but not limited to, persons with dementia-like symptoms, or prescription medication;
(ii) The person does not have a pattern of running away or disappearing;
(iii) The person may have been abducted by a noncustodial parent;
(iv) The person is mentally impaired, including, but not limited to, a person having a developmental disability or a person having an intellectual disability, as defined in Section 41-21-61;
(v) The person is under the age of twenty-one (21);
(vi) The person has been the subject of past
threats or acts of violence;
(vii) The person has eloped from a nursing home;
(h) The person is a veteran or active duty member of the United States Armed Forces, the National Guard or any reserve component of the United States Armed Forces who is believed to have a physical or mental health condition that is related to his or her service; or
(i) Any other factor that may, in the judgment of the law enforcement official, indicate that the missing person may be at risk.
(2) (a) Upon initial receipt of a missing person report, the local law enforcement agency shall immediately determine whether there is a basis to determine that the missing person is a high-risk missing person.
(b) If a local law enforcement agency has previously
determined that a missing person is not a high-risk missing person, but obtains new information, it shall immediately determine whether the information indicates that the missing person is a high-risk missing person.
(c) Local law enforcement agencies are encouraged to
establish written protocols for the handling of missing person cases to accomplish the purposes of this act.
(3) (a) The responding local law enforcement agency shall
immediately enter all collected information relating to the missing person case in the local law enforcement agency's data system and in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) databases and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) within ten (10) days after the receipt of the report, or in the case of a high-risk missing person, within five (5) days after the receipt of the report. If the DNA sample submission is to a National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) partner laboratory, the DNA profile may be uploaded by the partner laboratory to the National DNA Identification System (NDIS). A packet submission of all relevant reports and DNA samples may be sent to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) within five (5) days for any high-risk missing person cases. The information shall be provided in accordance with applicable guidelines relating to the databases. The information shall be entered as follows:
(i) If the Mississippi Department of Public Safety laboratories are utilized in lieu of National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) partner laboratories, all appropriate DNA profiles, as determined by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, shall be uploaded into the missing person databases of the State of Mississippi Forensics Laboratory DNA Identification System and National DNA identification system (NDIS) after completion of the DNA analysis and other procedures required for database entry. The responding local law enforcement agency may submit any DNA samples voluntarily obtained from family members to a National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) partner laboratory for DNA analysis within fifteen (15) days. A notation of DNA submission may be made within the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NaMUS) record.
(ii) Information relevant to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's Violent Criminal Apprehension Program shall be entered as soon as possible.
(iii) The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall ensure that persons entering data relating to medical or dental records in state or federal databases are specifically trained to understand and correctly enter the information sought by these databases. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall either use a person with specific expertise in medical or dental records for this purpose or consult with a chief medical examiner, forensic anthropologist or odontologist to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information entered into the state and federal databases.
(b) The Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall immediately notify all local law enforcement agencies within this state and the surrounding region of the information that will aid in the prompt location and safe return of the high-risk missing person.
(c) The local law enforcement agencies that receive the notification from the Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall notify officers to be on the lookout for the missing person or a suspected abductor.
(d) Pursuant to any applicable state criteria, local
law enforcement agencies shall also provide for the prompt use of an Amber Alert in cases involving missing or abducted children as authorized under Section 43-15-401, the Silver Alert System as authorized under Section 45-41-1, or use of the Endangered Missing Person Advisory in appropriate high-risk cases.
SECTION 4. Section 43-15-401, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward 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 Sections 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. 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 five (5) 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 ninety (90) 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 5. Section 45-41-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward 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 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 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 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.