PMWJ H.B. 1516 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS JUDICIAL AFFAIRS H.B. 1516 By: Thompson 4-2-97 Committee Report (Amended) BACKGROUND How many missing children are abducted is not definitely known, but most children who are abducted are under the age of 12. A 1990 US Department of Justice report estimated that 354,100 children were abducted by parents and family members in the United States in 1988. Abductions by strangers were estimated to account for at least 4600 missing American children. In 1988, nearly half of all parental abductors took children across state lines, concealed them, or otherwise prevented contact with the other parent. The US Department of State's Office of Children's Issues has assisted with more than 7000 international parental abduction cases; there were 1200 active, unresolved international parental abduction cases alone in January 1995. During the 74th Legislature, the House Judicial Affairs Committee studied parental kidnapping and among their recommendations was the creation of a record flagging system for assisting law enforcement in the location of missing children. PURPOSE The purpose of this bill is to create a record flagging system for assisting law enforcement in the location of missing children. This legislation is based upon the American Bar Association's Model School Records Flagging Act. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1 amends Section 79.001, Human Resources Code, by adding Subdivisions (11) which defines "Birth Certificate Agency", (12) which defines "Bureau of vital statistics" and (13) which defines "School." SECTION 2 amends Chapter 79, Human Resources Code, by adding Sections 79.017-79.020 as follows: Sec. 79.017. SCHOOL RECORDS SYSTEM. Subsec. (a) provides that on enrollment of a child under the age of 11 in a school for the first time, the school shall request from the person enrolling the child the name of each school the child has attended. The school must then request from each school the child has attended the child's school records. In addition, the school must notify the person enrolling the child that, within 30 days (90 days if the child was born outside the United States), the person must provide (1) a certified copy of the child's birth certificate or (2) other reliable proof of the child's identity and age and a signed statement explaining the person's inability to produce a copy of the child's birth certificate. Subsec. (b) provides that if a person enrolls a child under the age of 11 in a school and does not provide the information as required by this section that the school shall notify the appropriate law enforcement agency. Subsec. (b) further provides that, on receipt of the notification, the law enforcement agency shall check the clearinghouse to determine if the child has been reported missing. If the child has been reported missing the law enforcement agency shall immediately notify other appropriate law enforcement agencies that the missing child has been located. Sec. 79.018. DUTY OF SCHOOLS AND OTHER ENTITIES TO FLAG MISSING CHILDREN'S RECORDS. Subsec. (a) provides that, when a report that a child under the age of 11 is missing is received by a law enforcement agency, that the agency shall notify each school or day care facility the child has attended or in which the child was enrolled as well as the bureau of vital statistics, if the child was born in the state, that the child is missing. Subsec. (b) requires the bureau of vital statistics, upon receipt of notice that a child under age 11 is missing, to notify the appropriate municipal or county birth certificate agency that the child is missing. Subsec. (c) requires a school, day care facility or birth certificate agency to flag the child's records upon receipt of notice that the child is missing. Subsec. (d) provides that the law enforcement agency shall notify the clearinghouse that the notification under this section has been made. The clearinghouse shall notify the school, day care facility, or birth certificate agency that the child is missing if the clearinghouse determines the notification was not provided by the law enforcement agency. Subsec. (e) provides that if a missing child under the age of 11, who was the subject of a missing child report made in this state, was born in or attended a school or licensed day care facility in another state, the law enforcement agency shall notify law enforcement agencies or the missing and exploited children's clearinghouse in each appropriate state regarding the missing child and request that appropriate records be flagged. Sec. 79.019. SYSTEM FOR FLAGGING RECORDS. Subsec. (a) provides that, on receipt of notification of a missing child under 11 years of age, a school, day care facility, or birth certificate agency shall maintain the child's records in its possession so it may report a request for the flagged record. Subsec. (b) prohibits a school, day care facility, or agency from advising a requesting party that the request for a child's records concern a missing child. When a request for a flagged record is made, the school, day care facility, or agency must require the person requesting the flagged record (1) to complete a form stating the requesting person's name, address, telephone number, and relationship to the child, and the child's name, address and birth date; (2) obtain a copy of the requester's driver's license or a photo identification, if possible; (3) inform the requesting party that a copy of a birth certificate will be sent by mail, if the request is for a birth certificate; (4) immediately notify the appropriate law enforcement agency that a request for a flagged record has been made, including identifying information on the requesting party. Subsec. (c) provides that a school, day care facility, or agency may mail copies of the requested flagged records on or after the 21st day the request is made. Subsec. (d) provides that when a request for a flagged record is made in writing, the school, day care facility, or agency shall immediately notify the appropriate law enforcement agency that a request for a flagged record has been made and provide a copy of the written request. Subsec. (d) also repeats the provisions of Subsec. (c) that a school, day care facility, or agency may mail copies of the requested flagged records on or after the 21st day the written request is made. Sec. 79.020. REMOVAL OF FLAG FROM RECORDS. Subsec. (a) provides that on the return of the missing child under the age of 11, the law enforcement agency shall notify each school or day care facility that has maintained flagged records for the child and the bureau of vital statistics that the child is no longer missing. Subsec. (a) also requires that (1) the law enforcement agency shall notify the clearinghouse that the notification under this section has been made and (2) the bureau of vital statistics shall notify each appropriate municipal or county birth certificate agency. If the clearinghouse determines that notification was not provided by the law enforcement agency, it shall notify the school, day care facility, or bureau of vital statistics that the child is no longer missing. Subsec. (b) provides that on notification that a missing child has been recovered, the school, day care facility, or birth certificate agency that has maintained flagged records shall remove the flag. Subsec. (c) provides that a school, day care facility, or birth certificate agency that has reason to believe a missing child has been recovered may request confirmation that a missing child has been recovered and if a response is not received after 45 days, it may remove the flag and shall send notification that the flag has been removed. SECTION 3. Effective date. SECTION 4. Emergency clause. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Committee Amendment No. 1 changes the definition of "school" in Section 1 of the bill to clarify the exclusion of home schools and to narrow the definition of school to primary schools. Committee Amendment No. 2 repeats new Sec. 79.019(b) in Sec. 79.019(d) to clarify that a school, day care facility or agency may not reveal to the person requesting a child's records that the records concern a missing child. Committee Amendment No. 3 adds a new Section 2 to the bill and renumbers subsequent sections. New Section 2 adds a new Subsec. (d) to Section 79.005 of the Human Resources Code and amends current Subsec. (b). Subsec. (b) changes "Central Education Agency" to "Texas Education Agency" and requires the Missing Persons Clearinghouse at the Department of Public Safety to notify school districts, open-enrollment charter schools, private schools and licensed child care facilities, in addition to TEA, about missing children who may be located in the school system. New Subsec. (d) requires the clearinghouse to provide the bureau of vital statistics with information about missing children.