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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the reporting by law enforcement agencies of missing |
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children to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Article 63.00905(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, |
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as added by Chapter 729 (H.B. 2660), Acts of the 88th Legislature, |
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Regular Session, 2023, is amended to read as follows: |
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(a) Regardless of the jurisdiction in which the child went |
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missing, a law enforcement agency, on receiving a report of a |
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missing child, shall: |
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(1) immediately start an investigation in order to |
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determine the present location of the child; |
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(2) immediately, but not later than two hours after |
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receiving the report, enter the name of the child into the |
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clearinghouse and the national crime information center missing |
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person file if the child meets the center's criteria, with all |
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available identifying features such as dental records, |
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fingerprints, other physical characteristics, and a description of |
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the clothing worn when last seen, and all available information |
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describing any person reasonably believed to have taken or retained |
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the missing child; |
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(3) immediately, but not later than two hours after |
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the agency receives the report, enter the applicable information |
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into: |
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(A) the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications |
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System or a successor system of telecommunication used by law |
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enforcement agencies and operated by the Department of Public |
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Safety; and |
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(B) the National Center for Missing and Exploited |
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Children; |
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(4) not later than 48 hours after receiving the |
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report, electronically submit to each municipal or county law |
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enforcement agency within 200 miles the report and any information |
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that may help determine the present location of the child; |
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(5) not later than the 30th day after the date the |
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agency receives the report, enter the name of the child into the |
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National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, with all |
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available identifying features such as dental records, |
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fingerprints, other physical characteristics, and a description of |
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the clothing worn when last seen, and all available information |
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describing any person reasonably believed to have taken or retained |
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the missing child; and |
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(6) inform the person who filed the report of the |
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missing child that the information will be: |
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(A) entered into the clearinghouse, the national |
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crime information center missing person file, the National Center |
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for Missing and Exploited Children, and the National Missing and |
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Unidentified Persons System; and |
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(B) submitted to each municipal or county law |
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enforcement agency within 200 miles. |
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SECTION 2. Article 63.00905(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, |
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as added by Chapter 979 (S.B. 2429), Acts of the 88th Legislature, |
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Regular Session, 2023, is repealed as duplicative of Article |
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63.00905(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, as added by Chapter 729 |
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(H.B. 2660), Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |