As Passed by the Senate

127th General Assembly Regular Session 2007-2008

Sub. S. B. No. 87

Senator Carey 

Cosponsors: Senators Miller, D., Mumper, Padgett, Clancy, Boccieri, Schaffer, Schuler, Mason, Cafaro, Austria, Fedor, Gardner, Goodman, Grendell, Harris, Niehaus, Roberts, Sawyer, Spada, Stivers 

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A BILL

To enact section 5502.522 of the Revised Code to

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create the statewide emergency alert program to

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aid in the identification and location of missing

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individuals who have a mental impairment or are

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sixty-five years of age or older and to establish

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activation criteria for the implementation of the

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program.

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BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 5502.522 of the Revised Code be	8
enacted to read as follows:	9

Sec. 5502.522.  (A) There is hereby created the statewide	10
emergency alert program to aid in the identification and location	11
of any individual who has a mental impairment or is sixty-five	12
years of age or older, who is or is believed to be a temporary or	13
permanent resident of this state, is at a location that cannot be	14
determined by an individual familiar with the missing individual,	15
and is incapable of returning to the missing individual's	16
residence without assistance, and whose disappearance, as	17
determined by a law enforcement agency, poses a credible threat of	18
immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death to the missing	19
individual. The program shall be a coordinated effort among the	20
governor's office, the department of public safety, the attorney	21
general, law enforcement agencies, the state's public and	22
commercial television and radio broadcasters, and others as	23
determined necessary by the governor.	24

(B) The statewide emergency alert program shall not be	25
implemented unless all of the following activation criteria are	26
met:	27

(1) The local investigating law enforcement agency confirms	28
that the individual is missing.	29

(2) The individual is sixty-five years of age or older or has	30
a mental impairment.	31

(3) The disappearance of the individual poses a credible	32
threat of immediate danger of serious bodily harm or death to the	33
individual.	34

(4) There is sufficient descriptive information about the	35
individual and the circumstances surrounding the individual's	36
disappearance to indicate that activation of the alert will help	37
locate the individual.	38

(C) Nothing in division (B) of this section prevents the	39
activation of a local or regional emergency alert program that may	40
impose different criteria for the activation of a local or	41
regional plan.	42

(D) Any radio broadcast station, television broadcast	43
station, or cable system participating in the statewide emergency	44
alert program or in any local or regional emergency alert program,	45
and any director, officer, employee, or agent of any station or	46
system participating in either type of alert program, shall not be	47
liable to any person for damages for any loss allegedly caused by	48
or resulting from the station's or system's broadcast or cablecast	49
of, or failure to broadcast or cablecast, any information pursuant	50
to the statewide emergency alert program or the local or regional	51
emergency alert program.	52

(E) A local investigating law enforcement agency shall not be	53
required to notify the statewide emergency alert program that the	54
law enforcement agency has received information that meets the	55
activation criteria set forth in division (B) of this section	56
during the first twenty-four hours after the law enforcement	57
agency receives the information.	58

(F) Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize	59
the use of the federal emergency alert system unless otherwise	60
authorized by federal law.	61

(G) As used in this section:

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(1) "Cable system" has the same meaning as in section 2913.04	63
of the Revised Code.	64

(2) "Law enforcement agency" includes, but is not limited to,	65
a county sheriff's office, the office of a village marshal, a	66
police department of a municipal corporation, a police force of a	67
regional transit authority, a police force of a metropolitan	68
housing authority, the state highway patrol, a state university	69
law enforcement agency, the office of a township police constable,	70
and the police department of a township or joint township police	71
district.	72

(3) "Mental impairment" means a substantial disorder of	73
thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly	74
impairs judgment, behavior, or ability to live independently or	75
provide self-care as certified by a licensed physician,	76
psychiatrist, or psychologist.	77