By: Hull, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Alvarado) H.B. No. 1419
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 13, 2021;
  April 13, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Criminal Justice; May 6, 2021, reported favorably by the following
  vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 6, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the duties of a law enforcement agency regarding
  missing children and missing persons and to the duties of a justice
  of the peace or other investigator 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 49.04, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
  amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  A justice of the peace investigating a death described
  by Subsection (a)(3)(B), or the justice's designee, shall, not
  later than the 10th working day after the date that one or more
  identifying features of the unidentified body are determined or the
  60th day after the date the investigation began, whichever is
  earlier, 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.
         SECTION 3.  Section 7, Article 49.25, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, is amended by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  A person investigating a death described by Section
  6(a)(3)(B), or the person's designee, shall, not later than the
  10th working day after the date that one or more identifying
  features of the unidentified body are determined or the 60th day
  after the date the investigation began, whichever is earlier, 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.
         SECTION 4.  Articles 63.009(a), (b), and (f), Code of
  Criminal Procedure, are amended 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 the
  clearinghouse and[,] the national crime information center missing
  person file if the child or person meets the center's criteria, and
  report that name 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 60th 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:
                     (A)  entered into the clearinghouse, the national
  crime information center missing person file, and the National
  Missing and Unidentified Persons System; and
                     (B)  reported to 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.
         (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)  clear [cancel] the entry in the national crime
  information center database; and
               (2)  notify the National Missing and Unidentified
  Persons System.
         SECTION 5.  (a) Articles 49.04 and 49.25, Code of Criminal
  Procedure, as amended by this Act, apply only to the investigation
  of a death of an unidentified person that commences on or after the
  effective date of this Act. An investigation that commences before
  the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when
  the investigation commenced, and the former law is continued in
  effect for that purpose.
         (b)  Article 63.009, Code of Criminal Procedure, as amended
  by this Act, applies only to the report of a missing child or
  missing person 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 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 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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