By: Hull H.B. No. 1419
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the duties of a law enforcement agency regarding
  missing children and missing persons and regarding unidentified
  bodies.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  This Act shall be known as John and Joseph's Law.
         SECTION 2.  Article 63.009, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), and (f) and adding
  Subsections (c-1) and (c-2) to read as follows:
         (a)  A [Local] law enforcement agency [agencies], on
  receiving a report of a missing child or [a] missing person, shall:
               (1)  if the subject of the report is a child and the
  child is at a high risk of harm or is otherwise in danger or if the
  subject of the report is a person who is known by the agency to have
  or is reported to have chronic dementia, including Alzheimer's
  dementia, whether caused by illness, brain defect, or brain injury,
  immediately start an investigation in order to determine the
  present location of the child or person;
               (2)  if the subject of the report is a child or person
  other than a child or person described by Subdivision (1), start an
  investigation with due diligence in order to determine the present
  location of the child or person;
               (3)  immediately, but not later than two hours after
  receiving the report, enter the name of the child or person into or
  to the clearinghouse, the national crime information center missing
  person file if the child or person meets the center's criteria, and
  report the information to the Alzheimer's Association Safe Return
  emergency response center [crisis number], if applicable, 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]
               (4)  not later than the 30th day after the date the
  agency receives the report, enter the name of the child or person
  into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, 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
               (5)  inform the person who filed the report of the
  missing child or missing person that the information will be
  entered into or reported to the clearinghouse, the national crime
  information center missing person file, the National Missing and
  Unidentified Persons System, and the Alzheimer's Association Safe
  Return emergency response center [crisis number], if applicable.
         (b)  Information not immediately available when the original
  entry is made shall be [obtained by the agency and] entered into the
  clearinghouse, [and] the national crime information center file,
  and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System as a
  supplement to the original entry as soon as possible.
         (c)  All Texas law enforcement agencies or their designees
  are required to enter information about all unidentified bodies
  into the clearinghouse, [and] the national crime information center
  unidentified person file, and the National Missing and Unidentified
  Persons System as described by Subsections (c-1) and (c-2).
         (c-1)  A law enforcement agency shall, not later than the
  10th working day after the date the death is reported to the agency,
  enter all available identifying features of the unidentified body
  (fingerprints, dental records, any unusual physical
  characteristics, and a description of the clothing found on the
  body) into the clearinghouse and the national crime information
  center file. If an information entry into the national crime
  information center file results in an automatic entry of the
  information into the clearinghouse, the law enforcement agency is
  not required to make a direct entry of that information into the
  clearinghouse.
         (c-2)  A law enforcement agency or their designee shall, not
  later than the 10th working day after which identifying features of
  the unidentified body have been determined, but not later than the
  60th day after the date the death is reported to the agency, enter
  all available identifying features of the unidentified body
  (fingerprints, dental records, any unusual physical
  characteristics, and a description of the clothing found on the
  body) into the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.
         (f)  Immediately after the return of a missing child or
  missing person or the identification of an unidentified body, the
  local law enforcement agency having jurisdiction of the
  investigation shall:
               (1)  cancelclear the entry in the national crime
  information center database; and
               (2)  notify the National Missing and Unidentified
  Persons System.
         SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to the report of a missing child or missing person or an
  unidentified body that is made to a law enforcement agency on or
  after the effective date of this Act. The report of a missing child
  or missing person or an unidentified body that is made to a law
  enforcement agency before the effective date of this Act is
  governed by the law in effect when the report was made, and the
  former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.