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To amend sections 2901.30 and 2901.42 and to enact | 1 |
section 5502.522 of the Revised Code to create | 2 |
the statewide emergency alert program to aid in | 3 |
the identification and location of missing | 4 |
individuals who have a mental impairment or are | 5 |
sixty-five years of age or older and to establish | 6 |
activation criteria for the implementation of the | 7 |
program and to make changes in the Missing Persons | 8 |
Law relating to missing persons between the ages | 9 |
of 18 and 21 and missing children under age 18. | 10 |
Section 1. That sections 2901.30 and 2901.42 be amended and | 11 |
section 5502.522 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as | 12 |
follows: | 13 |
Sec. 2901.30. (A) As used in sections 2901.30 to 2901.32 of | 14 |
the Revised Code: | 15 |
(1) "Information" means information that can be integrated | 16 |
into the computer system and that relates to the physical or | 17 |
mental description of a minor including, but not limited to, | 18 |
height, weight, color of hair and eyes, use of eyeglasses or | 19 |
contact lenses, skin coloring, physical or mental handicaps, | 20 |
special medical conditions or needs, abnormalities, problems, | 21 |
scars and marks, and distinguishing characteristics, and other | 22 |
information that could assist in identifying a minor including, | 23 |
but not limited to, full name and nickname, date and place of | 24 |
birth, age, names and addresses of parents and other relatives, | 25 |
fingerprints, dental records, photographs, social security number, | 26 |
driver's license number, credit card numbers, bank account | 27 |
numbers, and clothing. | 28 |
(2) "Minor" means a person under eighteen years of age. | 29 |
(3) "Missing children" or "missing child" means either of the | 30 |
following: | 31 |
(a) A minor who has run away from or who otherwise is missing | 32 |
from the home of, or the care, custody, and control of, the | 33 |
minor's parents, parent who is the residential parent and legal | 34 |
custodian, guardian, legal custodian, or other person having | 35 |
responsibility for the care of the minor; | 36 |
(b) A minor who is missing and about whom there is reason to | 37 |
believe the minor could be the victim of a violation of section | 38 |
2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.03, or 2919.23 of the Revised Code or of a | 39 |
violation of section 2905.04 of the Revised Code as it existed | 40 |
prior to | 41 |
(B) When a law enforcement agency in this state that has | 42 |
jurisdiction in the matter is informed that a minor is or may be a | 43 |
missing child and that the person providing the information wishes | 44 |
to file a missing child report, the law enforcement agency shall | 45 |
take that report. Upon taking the report, the law enforcement | 46 |
agency shall take prompt action upon it, including, but not | 47 |
limited to, concerted efforts to locate the missing child. No law | 48 |
enforcement agency in this state shall have a rule or policy that | 49 |
prohibits or discourages the filing of or the taking of action | 50 |
upon a missing child report, within a specified period following | 51 |
the discovery or formulation of a belief that a minor is or could | 52 |
be a missing child. | 53 |
(C) If a missing child report is made to a law enforcement | 54 |
agency in this state that has jurisdiction in the matter, the law | 55 |
enforcement agency shall gather readily available information | 56 |
about the missing child and integrate it into the national crime | 57 |
information center computer | 58 |
following the making of the report. The law enforcement agency | 59 |
shall make reasonable efforts to acquire additional information | 60 |
about the missing child following the transmittal of the initially | 61 |
available information, and promptly integrate any additional | 62 |
information acquired into such computer systems. | 63 |
Whenever a law enforcement agency integrates information | 64 |
about a missing child into the national crime information center | 65 |
computer, the law enforcement agency promptly shall notify the | 66 |
missing child's parents, parent who is the residential parent and | 67 |
legal custodian, guardian, or legal custodian, or any other person | 68 |
responsible for the care of the missing child, that it has so | 69 |
integrated the information. | 70 |
The parents, parent who is the residential parent and legal | 71 |
custodian, guardian, legal custodian, or other person responsible | 72 |
for the care of the missing child shall provide available | 73 |
information upon request, and may provide information voluntarily, | 74 |
to the law enforcement agency during the information gathering | 75 |
process. The law enforcement agency also may obtain available | 76 |
information about the missing child from other persons, subject to | 77 |
constitutional and statutory limitations. | 78 |
(D) Upon the filing of a missing child report, the law | 79 |
enforcement agency involved promptly shall make a reasonable | 80 |
attempt to notify other law enforcement agencies within its county | 81 |
and, if the agency has jurisdiction in a municipal corporation or | 82 |
township that borders another county, to notify the law | 83 |
enforcement agency for the municipal corporation or township in | 84 |
the other county with which it shares the border, that it has | 85 |
taken a missing child report and may be requesting assistance or | 86 |
cooperation in the case, and provide relevant information to the | 87 |
other law enforcement agencies. The agency may notify additional | 88 |
law enforcement agencies, appropriate public children services | 89 |
agencies, about the case, request their assistance or cooperation | 90 |
in the case, and provide them with relevant information. | 91 |
Upon request from a law enforcement agency, a public children | 92 |
services agency shall grant the law enforcement agency access to | 93 |
all information concerning a missing child that the agency | 94 |
possesses that may be relevant to the law enforcement agency in | 95 |
investigating a missing child report concerning that child. The | 96 |
information obtained by the law enforcement agency shall be used | 97 |
only to further the investigation to locate the missing child. | 98 |
(E) Upon request, law enforcement agencies in this state | 99 |
shall provide assistance to, and cooperate with, other law | 100 |
enforcement agencies in their investigation of missing child | 101 |
cases. | 102 |
The information in any missing child report made to a law | 103 |
enforcement agency shall be made available, upon request, to law | 104 |
enforcement personnel of this state, other states, and the federal | 105 |
government when the law enforcement personnel indicate that the | 106 |
request is to aid in identifying or locating a missing child or | 107 |
the possible identification of a deceased minor who, upon | 108 |
discovery, cannot be identified. | 109 |
(F) When a missing child has not been located within thirty | 110 |
days after the date on which the missing child report pertaining | 111 |
to the child was filed with a law enforcement agency, that law | 112 |
enforcement agency shall request the missing child's parents, | 113 |
parent who is the residential parent and legal custodian, | 114 |
guardian, or legal custodian, or any other person responsible for | 115 |
the care of the missing child, to provide written consent for the | 116 |
law enforcement agency to contact the missing child's dentist and | 117 |
request the missing child's dental records. Upon receipt of such | 118 |
written consent, the dentist shall release a copy of the missing | 119 |
child's dental records to the law enforcement agency and shall | 120 |
provide and encode the records in such form as requested by the | 121 |
law enforcement agency. The law enforcement agency then shall | 122 |
integrate information in the records into the national crime | 123 |
information center computer in order to compare the records to | 124 |
those of unidentified deceased persons. This division does not | 125 |
prevent a law enforcement agency from seeking consent to obtain | 126 |
copies of a missing child's dental records, or prevent a missing | 127 |
child's parents, parent who is the residential parent and legal | 128 |
custodian, guardian, or legal custodian, or any other person | 129 |
responsible for the care of the missing child, from granting | 130 |
consent for the release of copies of the missing child's dental | 131 |
records to a law enforcement agency, at any time. | 132 |
(G) A missing child's parents, parent who is the residential | 133 |
parent and legal custodian, guardian, or legal custodian, or any | 134 |
other persons responsible for the care of a missing child, | 135 |
immediately shall notify the law enforcement agency with which | 136 |
they filed the missing child report whenever the child has | 137 |
returned to their home or to their care, custody, and control, has | 138 |
been released if the missing child was the victim of an offense | 139 |
listed in division (A)(3)(b) of this section, or otherwise has | 140 |
been located. Upon such notification or upon otherwise learning | 141 |
that a missing child has returned to the home of, or to the care, | 142 |
custody, and control of the missing child's parents, parent who is | 143 |
the residential parent and legal custodian, guardian, legal | 144 |
custodian, or other person responsible for the missing child's | 145 |
care, has been released if the missing child was the victim of an | 146 |
offense listed in division (A)(3)(b) of this section, or otherwise | 147 |
has been located, the law enforcement agency involved promptly | 148 |
shall integrate the fact that the minor no longer is a missing | 149 |
child into the national crime information center computer. | 150 |
(H) Nothing contained in this section shall be construed to | 151 |
impair the confidentiality of services provided to runaway minors | 152 |
by shelters for runaway minors pursuant to sections 5119.64 to | 153 |
5119.68 of the Revised Code. | 154 |
Sec. 2901.42. (A) If a law enforcement agency receives | 155 |
initial report or receives additional information for the report | 156 |
that a person who is at least eighteen but less than twenty-one | 157 |
years of age is missing | 158 |
159 | |
160 | |
the | 161 |
information center all information
contained in the report | 162 |
163 | |
agency receives the report or
additional information. | 164 |
165 | |
166 | |
167 | |
168 |
(B)(1) If a law enforcement agency receives a report that a | 169 |
person who is twenty-one years of age or older is missing and if | 170 |
there is evidence that the person was a victim of foul play at the | 171 |
time the victim is reported missing, the law enforcement agency | 172 |
shall make available through the national crime information center | 173 |
all information contained in the report not later than seven days | 174 |
after the law enforcement agency receives the report. If there is | 175 |
no evidence that the person was a victim of foul play, and no | 176 |
evidence to the contrary is received, the law enforcement agency | 177 |
shall make the information available through the national crime | 178 |
information center not later than thirty days after receiving the | 179 |
report that the person is missing. | 180 |
(2) If a law enforcement agency receives a report that a | 181 |
person who is twenty-one years of age or older is missing and | 182 |
there is no evidence of foul play at the time the agency receives | 183 |
the report and if the agency discovers after the law enforcement | 184 |
agency receives the report but before the end of the seven-day | 185 |
period under division | 186 |
person who is missing was a victim of foul play, the law | 187 |
enforcement agency shall make available through the | 188 |
189 | |
center all information contained in the report by the end of that | 190 |
seven-day period. If a law enforcement agency receives a report | 191 |
that a person who is twenty-one years of age or older is missing | 192 |
and there is no evidence of foul play at the time the agency | 193 |
receives the report and if the agency discovers after the end of | 194 |
the seven-day period
under division
| 195 |
evidence that the person who is missing was a victim of foul | 196 |
play, the law enforcement agency shall make available through | 197 |
the | 198 |
information center all information contained in the report not | 199 |
later than forty-eight hours after discovering the evidence that | 200 |
the person was a victim of foul play. | 201 |
(C) If a law enforcement agency pursuant to divisions (A) and | 202 |
(B) of this section made available through the | 203 |
204 | |
information contained in a report that a person is missing and | 205 |
the missing person is found, the agency shall promptly remove | 206 |
that information from the law enforcement automated data system. | 207 |
(D) As used in this section, indicators that a person was a | 208 |
victim of "foul play" include, but are not limited to, evidence | 209 |
that the person's home or car is in disarray, evidence of a | 210 |
struggle between the person and another person, or evidence a law | 211 |
enforcement agency determines to be foul play through the written | 212 |
policy the law enforcement agency develops and adopts pursuant to | 213 |
division (B) of section 2901.41 of the Revised Code. | 214 |
Sec. 5502.522. (A) There is hereby created the statewide | 215 |
emergency alert program to aid in the identification and location | 216 |
of any individual who has a mental impairment or is sixty-five | 217 |
years of age or older, who is or is believed to be a temporary or | 218 |
permanent resident of this state, is at a location that cannot be | 219 |
determined by an individual familiar with the missing individual, | 220 |
and is incapable of returning to the missing individual's | 221 |
residence without assistance, and whose disappearance, as | 222 |
determined by a law enforcement agency, poses a credible threat of | 223 |
immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death to the missing | 224 |
individual. The program shall be a coordinated effort among the | 225 |
governor's office, the department of public safety, the attorney | 226 |
general, law enforcement agencies, the state's public and | 227 |
commercial television and radio broadcasters, and others as | 228 |
determined necessary by the governor. No name shall be given to | 229 |
the program created under this division that conflicts with any | 230 |
alert code standards that are required by federal law and that | 231 |
govern the naming of emergency alert programs. | 232 |
(B) The statewide emergency alert program shall not be | 233 |
implemented unless all of the following activation criteria are | 234 |
met: | 235 |
(1) The local investigating law enforcement agency confirms | 236 |
that the individual is missing. | 237 |
(2) The individual is sixty-five years of age or older or has | 238 |
a mental impairment. | 239 |
(3) The disappearance of the individual poses a credible | 240 |
threat of immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death to the | 241 |
individual. | 242 |
(4) There is sufficient descriptive information about the | 243 |
individual and the circumstances surrounding the individual's | 244 |
disappearance to indicate that activation of the alert will help | 245 |
locate the individual. | 246 |
(C) Nothing in division (B) of this section prevents the | 247 |
activation of a local or regional emergency alert program that may | 248 |
impose different criteria for the activation of a local or | 249 |
regional plan. | 250 |
(D) Any radio broadcast station, television broadcast | 251 |
station, or cable system participating in the statewide emergency | 252 |
alert program or in any local or regional emergency alert program, | 253 |
and any director, officer, employee, or agent of any station or | 254 |
system participating in either type of alert program, shall not be | 255 |
liable to any person for damages for any loss allegedly caused by | 256 |
or resulting from the station's or system's broadcast or cablecast | 257 |
of, or failure to broadcast or cablecast, any information pursuant | 258 |
to the statewide emergency alert program or the local or regional | 259 |
emergency alert program. | 260 |
(E) A local investigating law enforcement agency shall not be | 261 |
required to notify the statewide emergency alert program that the | 262 |
law enforcement agency has received information that meets the | 263 |
activation criteria set forth in division (B) of this section | 264 |
during the first twenty-four hours after the law enforcement | 265 |
agency receives the information. | 266 |
(F) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize | 267 |
the use of the federal emergency alert system unless otherwise | 268 |
authorized by federal law. | 269 |
(G) As used in this section: | 270 |
(1) "Cable system" has the same meaning as in section 2913.04 | 271 |
of the Revised Code. | 272 |
(2) "Law enforcement agency" includes, but is not limited to, | 273 |
a county sheriff's office, the office of a village marshal, a | 274 |
police department of a municipal corporation, a police force of a | 275 |
regional transit authority, a police force of a metropolitan | 276 |
housing authority, the state highway patrol, a state university | 277 |
law enforcement agency, the office of a township police constable, | 278 |
and the police department of a township or joint township police | 279 |
district. | 280 |
(3) "Mental impairment" means a substantial disorder of | 281 |
thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly | 282 |
impairs judgment, behavior, or ability to live independently or | 283 |
provide self-care as certified by a licensed physician, | 284 |
psychiatrist, or psychologist. | 285 |
Section 2. That existing sections 2901.30 and 2901.42 of the | 286 |
Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 287 |