SRC-JFA H.B. 1912 75(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.B. 1912
By: Wise (Lucio)
Criminal Justice
5-16-97
Engrossed


DIGEST 

In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the National Child Search Assistance Act
(42 U.S.C. 5780) that requires each federal, state, and local law
enforcement agency to report each case of a missing child younger than the
age of 18 to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC).  The federal
act states that no agency is to maintain any policy establishing a waiting
period before accepting a missing child or unidentified person report.
Additionally, the federal act provides that each agency is to immediately
enter identifying information which is to be supplemented within 60 days
with additional available information, such as medical and dental records.
This bill would revise the current law in Texas relative to how law
enforcement officials report information to the NCIC, particularly as it
relates to missing or abducted children and adults.   

PURPOSE

As proposed, H.B. 1912 revises the current law in Texas relative to how
law enforcement officials report information to the National Crime
Information Center, particularly as it relates to missing or abducted
children and adults.   

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 79.008, Human Resources Code, by amending
Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (d)-(f), as follows: 

(a)  Requires local law enforcement agencies, on receiving a report of a
missing child or a missing person, among other actions, to immediately
enter the name of the child or person into the clearinghouse and the
national crime information center missing person file if the child or
person meets the center's criteria, with all available identifying
features such as dental records, fingerprints, other physical
characteristics, and a description of the clothing worn when last seen,
and all available information describing any person reasonably believed to
have taken or retained the missing child or missing person; and to inform
the person who filed the report of the missing child or missing person
that the information will be entered into the clearinghouse and the
national crime information center missing person file.  

(d)  Requires the local law enforcement agency, if the local law
enforcement agency investigating a report of a missing child or missing
person obtains a warrant for the arrest of a person for taking or
retaining the missing child or missing person, to immediately enter the
name and other descriptive information of the person into the national
crime information center wanted person file if the person meets the
center's criteria.  Requires the local law enforcement agency to also
enter all available identifying features.  Requires the information to be
cross-referenced with the information in the national crime information
center missing person file.   

(e)  Requires a local law enforcement agency that has access to the
national crime information center database to cooperate with other law
enforcement agencies in entering or retrieving information from the
national crime information center database.   
 
(f)  Requires the local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction of the
investigation to cancel the entry in the national crime information center
database immediately after the return of a missing child or missing person
or the identification of an unidentified body.   

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1997.

SECTION 3. Emergency clause.