BILL REQ. #:  H-3621.1 

Read first time 01/16/12.   Referred to Committee on Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness.

     AN ACT Relating to missing endangered persons; and amending RCW 13.60.010 and 13.60.020.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 13.60.010 and 2009 c 20 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The Washington state patrol shall establish a missing children and endangered person clearinghouse which shall include the maintenance and operation of a toll-free, twenty-four-hour telephone hotline. The clearinghouse shall distribute information to local law enforcement agencies, school districts, the department of social and health services, and the general public regarding missing children and endangered persons. The information shall include pictures, bulletins, training sessions, reports, and biographical materials that will assist in local law enforcement efforts to locate missing children and endangered persons. The state patrol shall also maintain a regularly updated computerized link with national and other statewide missing person systems or clearinghouses, and within existing resources, shall develop and implement a plan, commonly known as an "amber alert plan," for voluntary cooperation between local, state, tribal, and other law enforcement agencies, state government agencies, radio and television stations, ((and)) cable and satellite systems, and social media pages and sites to enhance the public's ability to assist in recovering abducted children and missing endangered persons.
     (2) For the purposes of this chapter:
     (a) "Child" or "children((,))" ((as used in this chapter,)) means an individual under eighteen years of age.
     (b) "Missing endangered person" means a person believed to be in danger because of age, health, mental or physical disability, in combination with environmental or weather conditions, or is believed to be unable to return to safety without assistance.

Sec. 2   RCW 13.60.020 and 1985 c 443 s 23 are each amended to read as follows:
     Local law enforcement agencies shall file an official missing person report and enter biographical information into the state missing person computerized network within ((twelve)) six hours after notification of a missing child or endangered person is received under RCW 13.32A.050 (1)(a), (((3))) (c), or (((4))) (d), or an endangered missing person received under RCW 13.60.050. The patrol shall collect such information as will enable it to retrieve immediately the following information about a missing child or endangered person: Name, date of birth, social security number, fingerprint classification, relevant physical descriptions, and known associates and locations. Access to the preceding information shall be available to appropriate law enforcement agencies, and to parents and legal guardians, when appropriate.