COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2093
(By Delegates Douglas, Staton, Mahan, Hutchins and Martin)

(Originating in the Committee on Finance)

[March 28, 1997]

A BILL to amend chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new article, designated article nine, relating to the establishment of the missing children information clearinghouse; definitions; duties of the state police; duties of the department of education; duties of law- enforcement agencies; request for information by custodian; missing child reports; procedures upon receipt of missing child report; law-enforcement requirements upon receipt of information about unidentified bodies of children; release of dental records; immunity from civil liability or criminal prosecution for release of records; cross-checking and matching of information; cooperation required of state agencies and schools; confidentiality of information and records; duties of attorney general to enforce provisions; duty of law-enforcement agencies to forward contents of completed report; and duties of law-enforcement agencies to update information and provide notice.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter forty-nine of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new article, designated article nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9. MISSING CHILDREN INFORMATION ACT.
§49-9-1. Short title.
This article may be cited as the "Missing Children Information Act."
§49-9-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
(a) "Child" means an individual under the age of eighteen years who is not emancipated;
(b) "Clearinghouse" means the West Virginia missing children information clearinghouse;
(c) "Custodian" means a parent, guardian, custodian or other person who exercises legal physical control, care or custody of a child;
(d) "Missing child" means a child whose whereabouts are unknown to the child's custodian and the circumstances of whose absence indicate that:
(1) The child did not leave the care and control of the custodian voluntarily and the taking of the child was not authorized by law; or
(2) The child voluntarily left the care and control of his or her custodian without the custodian's consent and without intent to return;
(e) "Missing child report" means information that is:
(1) Given to a law-enforcement agency on a form used for sending information to the national crime information center; and
(2) About a child whose whereabouts are unknown to the reporter and who is alleged in the form submitted by the reporter to be missing;
(f) "Possible match" means the similarities between an unidentified body of a child and a missing child that would lead one to believe they are the same child;
(g) "Reporter" means the person who reports a missing child; and
(h) "State agency" means an agency of the state, political subdivision of the state or public postsecondary educational institution.
§49-9-3. Clearinghouse function.
(a) The missing children information clearinghouse is established under the West Virginia state police. The state police:
(1) Shall provide for the administration of the clearinghouse; and
(2) May promulgate rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to carry out the provisions of this article.
(b) The clearinghouse is a central repository of information on missing children and shall be used by all law-enforcement agencies in this state.
(c) The clearinghouse shall:
(1) Establish a system of intrastate communication of information relating to missing children;
(2) Provide a centralized file for the exchange of information on missing children and unidentified bodies of children within the state;
(3) Communicate with the national crime information center for the exchange of information on missing children suspected of interstate travel;
(4) Collect, process, maintain and disseminate accurate and complete information on missing children;
(5) Provide a statewide toll-free telephone line for the reporting of missing children and for receiving information on missing children;
(6) Disseminate to custodians, law-enforcement agencies, the state department of education, the governor's cabinet on children and families and the general public information that explains how to prevent child abduction and what to do if a child becomes missing;
(7) Compile statistics relating to the incidence of missing children within the state;
(8) Provide training materials and technical assistance to law-enforcement agencies and social services agencies pertaining to missing children; and
(9) Establish a media protocol for disseminating information pertaining to missing children.
(d) The clearinghouse shall print and distribute posters, flyers and other forms of information containing descriptions of missing children.
(e) The state police may accept public or private grants, gifts and donations to assist in carrying out the provisions of this article.

§49-9-4. State department of education; missing children program.

(a) The state department of education shall develop and administer a program for the location of missing children who may be enrolled in the West Virginia school system, including private schools, and for the reporting of children who may be missing or who may be unlawfully removed from schools.
(b) The program shall include the use of information received from the clearinghouse and shall be coordinated with the operations of the clearinghouse.
(c) The state board of education may promulgate rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty- nine-a of this code for the operation of the program and shall require the participation of all school districts and state- accredited private schools in this state.
§49-9-5. Information to clearinghouse.
Every law-enforcement agency in West Virginia shall provide to the clearinghouse any information the law-enforcement agency has that would assist in locating or identifying a missing child.
§49-9-6. Custodian request for information.
(a) Upon written request made to a law-enforcement agency by the custodian of a missing child, the law-enforcement agency shall request from the clearinghouse information concerning the child that may aid the custodian in locating or identifying the child.
(b) A law-enforcement agency to which a request has been made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall report to the custodian on the results of its inquiry within fourteen calendar days after the day the written request is received by the law-enforcement agency.
§49-9-7. Missing child report forms.
(a) The clearinghouse shall distribute missing child report forms to law-enforcement agencies in the state.
(b) A missing child report may be made to a law-enforcement agency in person or by telephone or other indirect method of communication and the person taking the report may enter the information on the form for the reporter. A missing child report form may be completed by the reporter and delivered to a law- enforcement office.
(c) A copy of the missing child report form shall be filed with the clearinghouse.

§49-9-8. Law-enforcement requirements; missing child reports; unidentified bodies.

(a) A law-enforcement agency, upon receiving a missing child report, shall:
(1) Immediately start an investigation to determine the present location of the child if it determines that the child is in danger; and
(2) Enter the name of the missing child into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center missing person file if the child meets the center's criteria, with all available identifying features, including dental records, fingerprints, other physical characteristics and a description of the clothing worn when the missing child was last seen.
(b) Information not immediately available shall be obtained as soon as possible by the law-enforcement agency and entered into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center file as a supplement to the original entry.
(c) All West Virginia law-enforcement agencies shall enter information about all unidentified bodies of children found in their jurisdiction into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center unidentified person file, including all available identifying features of the body and a description of the clothing found on the body. If an information entry into the national crime information center file results in an automatic entry of the information into the clearinghouse, the law- enforcement agency is not required to make a direct entry of that information into the clearinghouse.
§49-9-9. Release of dental records; immunity.
(a) At the time a missing child report is made, the law-enforcement agency to which the missing child report is given may, when feasible and appropriate, provide a dental record release form to the parent, custodian, health care surrogate or other legal entity authorized to release the dental records of the missing child. The law-enforcement agency shall endorse the dental record release form with a notation that a missing child report has been made in compliance with the provisions of this article. When the dental record release form is properly completed by the parent, custodian, health care surrogate or other legal entity authorized to release the dental records of the missing child and contains the endorsement, the form is sufficient to permit a dentist or physician in this state to release dental records relating to the missing child to the law- enforcement agency.
(b) A circuit court judge may for good cause shown authorize the release of dental records of a missing child to a law- enforcement agency.
(c) A law-enforcement agency which receives dental records under the provisions of subsections (a) or (b) of this section shall send the dental records to the clearinghouse.
(d) A dentist or physician who releases dental records to a person presenting a proper release executed or ordered pursuant to this section is immune from civil liability or criminal prosecution for the release of the dental records.
§49-9-10. Cross-checking and matching.
(a) The clearinghouse shall, in accordance with national crime information center policies and procedures, cross-check and attempt to match unidentified bodies with descriptions of missing children. When the clearinghouse discovers a possible match between an unidentified body and a missing child description, the clearinghouse shall notify the appropriate law-enforcement agencies.
(b) A law-enforcement agency that receives notice of a possible match shall make arrangements for positive identification. If a positive identification is made, the law- enforcement agency shall complete and close the investigation with notification to the clearinghouse.
§49-9-11. Interagency cooperation.
(a) State agencies and public and private schools shall cooperate with a law-enforcement agency that is investigating a missing child report and shall furnish any information, including confidential information, that will assist the law-enforcement agency in completing the investigation.
(b) Information provided by a state agency or a public or private school may not be released to any person outside the law- enforcement agency or the clearinghouse, except as provided by rules of the West Virginia state police.
§49-9-12. Confidentiality of records.
(a) The state police shall promulgate rules according to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to provide for the classification of information and records as confidential that:
(1) Are otherwise confidential under state or federal law or rules promulgated pursuant to state or federal law;
(2) Are related to the investigation by a law-enforcement agency of a missing child or an unidentified body, if the state police, in consultation with the law-enforcement agency, determines that release of the information would be deleterious to the investigation;
(3) Are records or notations that the clearinghouse maintains for internal use in matters relating to missing children and unidentified bodies and the state police determines that release of the internal documents might interfere with an investigation by a law-enforcement agency in West Virginia or any other jurisdiction; or
(4) Are records or information that the state police determines might interfere with an investigation or otherwise harm a child or custodian.
(b) The rules may provide for the sharing of confidential information with the custodian of the missing child.
§49-9-13. Attorney general to require compliance.
The attorney general shall require each law-enforcement agency to comply with the provisions of the Missing Children Information Act and may seek writs of mandamus or other appropriate remedies to enforce the provisions of this article.
§49-9-14. Agencies that receive report.
(a) Upon completion of the missing child report the law- enforcement agency shall immediately forward the contents of the report to the missing children information clearinghouse and the national crime information center's missing person file: Provided, That if an information entry into the national crime information center file results in an automatic entry of the information into the clearinghouse, the law-enforcement agency is not required to make a direct entry of that information into the clearinghouse.
(b) Within fifteen days after completion of the report, if the child is less than thirteen years of age the law-enforcement agency may, when appropriate, forward the contents of the report to the last:
(1) Child care center or child care home in which the child was enrolled; or
(2) School the child attended in West Virginia, if any.
(c) A law-enforcement agency involved in the investigation of a missing child shall:
(1) Update the initial report filed by the agency that received notification of the missing child upon the discovery of new information concerning the investigation;
(2) Forward the updated report to the appropriate agencies and organizations;
(3) Search the national crime information center's wanted person file for reports of arrest warrants issued for persons who allegedly abducted or unlawfully retained children and compare these reports to the missing child's national crime information center's missing person file; and
(4) Notify all law-enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, the missing children information clearinghouse, and the national crime information center when the missing child is located.