BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to missing and exploited children; amending RCW 43.08.250; adding new sections to chapter 13.60; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds a compelling need to address the problem of missing children, whether those children have been abducted by a stranger, are missing due to custodial interference, or are classified as runaways. Washington state ranks twelfth in the nation for active cases of missing juveniles and, at any given time, more than one thousand eight hundred Washington children are reported as missing. The potential for physical and psychological trauma to these children is extreme. Therefore, the legislature finds that it is paramount for the safety of these children that there be a concerted effort to resolve cases of missing and exploited children.

Due to the complexity of many child abduction cases, most law enforcement personnel are unprepared and lack adequate resources to successfully and efficiently investigate these crimes. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature that a multiagency task force be established within the Washington state patrol, to be available to assist local jurisdictions in missing child cases through referrals, on-site assistance, case management, and training. The legislature intends that the task force will increase the effectiveness of a specific case investigation by drawing from the combined resources, knowledge, and technical expertise of the members of the task force.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) A task force on missing and exploited children is established in the Washington state patrol. The task force shall be under the direction of the chief of the state patrol.

(2) The task force is authorized to assist law enforcement agencies, upon request, in cases involving missing or exploited children by:

(a) Direct assistance and case management;

(b) Technical assistance;

(d) Referral for assistance from local, state, national, and international agencies; and

(e) Coordination and information sharing among local, state, and federal law enforcement and social service agencies.

(3) To maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of state resources and to improve interagency cooperation, the task force shall, where feasible, use existing facilities, systems, and staff made available by the state patrol and other local, state, and federal law enforcement and social service agencies. The chief of the state patrol may employ such additional personnel as are necessary for the work of the task force and may share personnel costs with other agencies.

(4) The chief of the state patrol shall seek public and private grants and gifts to support the work of the task force.

(5) By December 1, 2001, and annually thereafter, the chief of the state patrol shall submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature. The report shall establish performance measurements and objectives for the task force and assess the accomplishments of the task force.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The advisory board on missing and exploited children is established to advise the chief of the Washington state patrol on the objectives, conduct, management, and coordination of the various activities of the task force on missing and exploited children.

(1) The chief of the state patrol shall appoint five members to the advisory board: (a) One member shall be a county prosecuting attorney or a representative and shall be appointed in consultation with the elected county prosecutors; (b) two members shall be a municipal police chief and a county sheriff, or their representatives, and shall be appointed in consultation with the association of sheriffs and police chiefs under RCW 36.28A.010; (c) one member shall be a representative of the state patrol; and (d) one member shall be a representative of parents of missing or exploited children.

(2) A sixth member of the board shall represent and be appointed by the attorney general.

(3) To improve interagency communication and coordination, the chief of the state patrol shall invite representatives of federal law enforcement agencies and state social service agencies to participate in the advisory board.

(4) The members of the board shall be qualified on the basis of knowledge and experience as may contribute to the effective performance of the board's duties. The board shall elect its own chair from among its members. Meetings of the board may be convened at the call of the chair or by a majority of the members.

(5) The term of each member of the board shall be two years and shall be conditioned upon the member retaining the official position from which the member was appointed.

Sec. 4. RCW 43.08.250 and 1997 c 149 s 910 are each amended to read as follows:

The money received by the state treasurer from fees, fines, forfeitures, penalties, reimbursements or assessments by any court organized under Title 3 or 35 RCW, or chapter 2.08 RCW, shall be deposited in the public safety and education account which is hereby created in the state treasury. The legislature shall appropriate the funds in the account to promote traffic safety education, highway safety, criminal justice training, crime victims' compensation, judicial education, the judicial information system, the task force on missing and exploited children, civil representation of indigent persons, winter recreation parking, and state game programs. During the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 1999, the legislature may appropriate moneys from the public safety and education account for purposes of appellate indigent defense, the criminal litigation unit of the attorney general's office, the treatment alternatives to street crimes program, crime victims advocacy programs, justice information network telecommunication planning, sexual assault treatment, operations of the office of administrator for the courts, security in the common schools, criminal justice data collection, and Washington state patrol criminal justice activities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Sections 1 through 3 of this act are each added to chapter 13.60 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The sum of ..... dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the public safety and education account to the Washington state patrol for the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 2001, to carry out the purposes of this act.