Assembly Bill No. 322–Assemblymen Perkins, Ohrenschall, Goldwater, Gibbons, Koivisto, Anderson, Andonov, Angle, Arberry, Atkinson, Beers, Buckley, Carpenter, Chowning, Christensen, Claborn, Collins, Conklin, Geddes, Giunchigliani, Goicoechea, Grady, Griffin, Gustavson, Hardy, Hettrick, Horne, Knecht, Leslie, Mabey, Manendo, Marvel, McClain, McCleary, Mortenson, Oceguera, Parks, Pierce, Sherer, Weber and Williams

 

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AN ACT relating to public services for children; creating the Statewide Alert System for the Safe Return of Abducted Children; creating the Committee for the Statewide Alert System; prescribing the membership and duties of the Committee; prescribing the circumstances under which a law enforcement agency may activate the System; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

    Section 1. Chapter 432 of NRS is hereby amended by adding

thereto the provisions set forth as sections 2 to 10, inclusive, of this

act.

    Sec. 2.  As used in sections 2 to 10, inclusive, of this act, the

words and terms defined in sections 3, 4 and 5 of this act have the

meanings ascribed to them in those sections.

    Sec. 3.  “Broadcaster” means a radio broadcasting station,

cable operator or television broadcasting station primarily

engaged in, and deriving income from, the business of facilitating

speech via over-the-air communications, both as to pure speech

and commercial speech.

    Sec. 4.  “Committee” means the Committee for the Statewide

Alert System created by section 7 of this act.

    Sec. 5.  “System” means the Statewide Alert System for the

Safe Return of Abducted Children created by section 6 of this act.

    Sec. 6.  1.  There is hereby created the Statewide Alert

System for the Safe Return of Abducted Children, which is

composed of a voluntary partnership among state law enforcement

agencies, local law enforcement agencies and broadcasters to

assist in the search for and safe return of abducted children. The

Children’s Advocate appointed pursuant to NRS 432.157 shall

administer the System.

    2.  The agencies and broadcasters that choose to participate in

the System must agree to comply with the provisions of sections 2

to 10, inclusive, of this act and any requirements prescribed by the

Committee for participation in the System.

    3.  Each law enforcement agency that chooses to participate

in the System shall:

    (a) Adopt a written policy concerning activation of the System

by the agency consistent with the provisions of sections 2 to 10,

inclusive, of this act; and

    (b) Submit a copy of the written policy to the Children’s

Advocate appointed pursuant to NRS 432.157.

    Sec. 7.  1.  There is hereby created the Committee for the

Statewide Alert System consisting of 12 members as follows:

    (a) Five members appointed by the Governor who represent

local law enforcement agencies;

    (b) Five members appointed by the Governor who represent

state law enforcement agencies;

    (c) One representative of this state’s Emergency Alert System,

appointed by the Nevada Broadcasters Association or its

successor; and

    (d) One representative of the Nevada Broadcasters Association

or its successor, appointed by that Association.

    2.  The Governor shall select a Chairman and Vice Chairman

of the Committee.

    3.  After the initial terms, each member of the Committee

serves a term of 3 years, commencing on July 1 of each odd-

numbered year. A vacancy on the Committee must be filled in the

same manner as the original appointment.

    4.  Members of the Committee serve without salary or

compensation for their travel or per diem expenses.

    Sec. 8.  1.  The Committee shall, in consultation with the

Attorney General:

    (a) Oversee the System;

    (b) Set forth the components of the System;

    (c) Supervise and evaluate any training associated with the

System;

    (d) Monitor, review and evaluate the activations of the System

to determine whether such activations complied with sections 2 to

10, inclusive, of this act; and

    (e) Conduct periodic tests of the System.

    2.  The Committee may:

    (a) Dedicate the System to one or more persons;

    (b) Establish a name for the System that is in addition to the

definition set forth in section 5 of this act; and

    (c) Accept gifts, grants and donations for use in carrying out

the provisions of sections 2 to 10, inclusive, of this act.

    Sec. 9.  1.  A law enforcement agency which has jurisdiction

over the investigation of an abducted child who is less than 18

years of age may activate the System to broadcast an emergency

bulletin on behalf of the child if:

    (a) The law enforcement agency confirmed that the child has

been abducted;

    (b) The child is in danger of serious physical harm or death;

and

    (c) The law enforcement agency has sufficient descriptive

information about the child or the person who is suspected of

abducting the child, or other pertinent information, to warrant

immediate broadcast of the information.

    2.  Before activation of the System on behalf of a child, the

law enforcement agency shall determine whether the broadcast of

information will encompass:

    (a) A particular county, region or state; or

    (b) More than one state.

    3.  A law enforcement agency is not required to obtain the

prior consent of the Committee before activating the System, but

the Committee may review an activation of the System after the

activation is complete.

    Sec. 10.  1.  If a broadcaster that participates in the System

receives a notification of activation of the System by a law

enforcement agency concerning an abducted child and as a result

of that notification broadcasts descriptive information concerning

the abducted child and other information contained in

the notification to assist with the safe return of the child, the

broadcaster is immune from civil liability based upon the

broadcast of that information.

    2.  If a person enters into an agreement with the Committee to

establish or maintain a website for the System and the agreement

provides that only the law enforcement agency activating the

System has the authority or ability to place information on the

website, the person is immune from civil liability based upon

the information that is placed on the website by the law

enforcement agency.

    Sec. 11.  NRS 432.200 is hereby amended to read as follows:

    432.200  1.  A law enforcement agency shall accept every

report of a missing child which is submitted to the agency,

including, but not limited to, a report made by telephone. Upon

receipt of such a report, the agency shall immediately conduct a

preliminary investigation and classify the cause of the disappearance

of the child as “runaway,” “abducted by his parent,” “abducted by a

stranger” or “cause of disappearance unknown,” and shall:

    (a) Transmit all available information about the child to the

Clearinghouse and to the Central Repository for Nevada Records of

Criminal History within 36 hours after the report is received;

    (b) Immediately notify such persons and make such inquiries

concerning the missing child as the agency deems necessary;

    (c) Fully comply with the requirements of the National Child

Search Assistance Act of 1990, Title XXXVII of Public Law 101-

647, 104 Stat. 4966; and

    (d) Enter into the National Crime Information Center’s Missing

Person File and the Repository for Information Concerning Missing

Persons within the Central Repository for Nevada Records of

Criminal History, as miscellaneous information, any person

reasonably believed to have unlawfully abducted or detained the

missing child, or aided or abetted [such] the unlawful abduction or

detention.

    2.  A law enforcement agency which has jurisdiction over the

investigation of an abducted child and which has obtained a warrant

for the arrest of a person suspected in the child’s disappearance or

concealment shall immediately notify the National Crime

Information Center for the entry into the Center’s Wanted Person

File of identifying and descriptive information concerning:

    (a) The suspect; and

    (b) As miscellaneous information, the missing child.

The agency shall cross-reference information entered pursuant to

this section with the National Crime Information Center’s Missing

Person File and with the Repository for Information Concerning

Missing Persons within the Central Repository for Nevada Records

of Criminal History.

    3.  If a missing child is less than 16 years of age or has not been

located within 30 days after a report is filed, the law enforcement

agency that received the initial report shall, and the Division or the

Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History may:

    (a) Send to the child’s parent or guardian a request for certain

identifying information regarding the child that the National Crime

Information Center recommends be provided; and

    (b) Ask the child’s parent or guardian to provide such

identifying information regarding the child.

If a law enforcement agency receives the identifying information, it

shall transmit all information so released to it to the Division and to

the Central Repository. The Division and the Central Repository

shall, upon [its] receipt of the identifying information about the

missing child, compare the information with the information that is

on file concerning unidentified deceased children. This subsection

does not preclude the voluntary release of identifying information

about the missing child by his parent or guardian at any time.

    4.  The parent or guardian of a child reported as missing shall

promptly notify the appropriate law enforcement agency if the child

is found or returned. The law enforcement agency shall then

transmit that fact to the National Crime Information Center, the

Central Repository for Nevada Records of Criminal History and the

Clearinghouse.

    5.  Nothing in this section requires a law enforcement agency

to activate the Statewide Alert System for the Safe Return of

Abducted Children created by section 6 of this act.

    6.  As used in this section, “Division” means the Investigation

Division of the Department of Public Safety.

    Sec. 12.  1.  On or before July 1, 2003, the Governor shall:

    (a) Appoint five members to the Committee for the Statewide

Alert System pursuant to section 7 of this act to terms commencing

on July 1, 2003, and expiring on June 30, 2005.

    (b) Appoint five members to the Committee for the Statewide

Alert System pursuant to section 7 of this act to terms commencing

on July 1, 2003, and expiring on June 30, 2006.

    2.  On or before July 1, 2003, the Nevada Broadcasters

Association shall appoint two members to the Committee for the

Statewide Alert System pursuant to section 7 of this act to terms

commencing on July 1, 2003, and expiring on June 30, 2006.

    Sec. 13.  1.  This section and sections 7 and 12 of this act

become effective upon passage and approval.

    2.  Sections 1 to 6, inclusive, and 8 to 11, inclusive, of this act

become effective on July 1, 2003.

 

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