Minnesota Session Laws - 1984, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1984 

                        CHAPTER 510-H.F.No. 1428
           An act relating to missing children; requiring the 
          commissioner of public safety to establish a Minnesota 
          missing child program; requiring law enforcement 
          agencies receiving missing child reports to take 
          certain actions; proposing new law coded in Minnesota 
          Statutes, chapter 299C. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  [299C.51] [CITATION.] 
    Sections 1 to 3 may be cited as the "Minnesota Missing 
Children's Act."  
    Sec. 2.  [299C.52] [MINNESOTA MISSING CHILD PROGRAM.] 
    Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] As used in sections 2 and 3, 
the following terms have the meanings given them:  
    (a) "Child" means any person under the age of 18 years or 
any person certified or known to be mentally incompetent;  
    (b) "CJIS" means Minnesota Criminal Justice Information 
System;  
    (c) "Missing" means the status of a child after a law 
enforcement agency that has received a report of a missing child 
has conducted a preliminary investigation and determined that 
the child cannot be located; and 
     (d) "NCIC" means National Crime Information Center. 
    Subd. 2.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The commissioner of public 
safety shall maintain a Minnesota missing child program within 
the department to enable documented information about missing 
Minnesota children to be entered into the NCIC computer.  
    Subd. 3.  [COMPUTER EQUIPMENT AND PROGRAMS.] The 
commissioner shall provide the necessary computer hardware and 
computer programs to enter, modify, and cancel information on 
missing children in the NCIC computer through the CJIS.  These 
programs must provide for search and retrieval of information 
using the following identifiers:  name and date of birth, name 
and social security number, name and driver's license number, 
vehicle license number, and vehicle identification number.  The 
commissioner shall also provide a system for regional, 
statewide, multi-state, and nationwide broadcasts of information 
on missing children.  These broadcasts shall be made by local 
law enforcement agencies where possible or, in the case of 
statewide or nationwide broadcasts, by the bureau of criminal 
apprehension upon request of the local law enforcement agency.  
    Subd. 4.  [AUTHORITY TO ENTER OR RETRIEVE INFORMATION.] 
Only law enforcement agencies may enter missing child 
information through the CJIS into the NCIC computer or retrieve 
information through the CJIS from the NCIC computer. 
    Subd. 5.  [STATISTICAL DATA.] The commissioner shall 
annually compile and make available statistical information on 
the number of missing children entered into the NCIC computer 
and, if available, information on the number located.  
    Subd. 6.  [RULES.] The commissioner may adopt rules in 
conformance with sections 2 and 3 to provide for the orderly 
collection and entry of missing child information and requests 
for retrieval of missing child information. 
    Sec. 3.  [299C.53] [MISSING CHILD REPORTS; DUTIES OF 
COMMISSIONER AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES.] 
     Subdivision 1.  [INVESTIGATION AND ENTRY OF INFORMATION.] 
Upon receiving a report of a child believed to be missing, a law 
enforcement agency shall conduct a preliminary investigation to 
determine whether the child is missing.  If the child is 
determined to be missing, the agency shall immediately enter 
identifying and descriptive information about the child through 
the CJIS into the NCIC computer.  Law enforcement agencies 
having direct access to the CJIS and the NCIC computer shall 
enter and retrieve the data directly and shall cooperate in the 
entry and retrieval of data on behalf of law enforcement 
agencies which do not have direct access to the systems.  
    Subd. 2.  [LOCATION OF MISSING CHILD.] Immediately after a 
missing child is located, the law enforcement agency which 
located or returned the missing child shall notify the law 
enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the investigation, 
and that agency shall cancel the entry from the NCIC computer.  
    Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
    Section 2 is effective the day following final enactment. 
    Approved April 25, 1984