SENATE BILL 473
50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011
INTRODUCED BY
Linda M. Lopez
AN ACT
RELATING TO MISSING PERSONS; CLARIFYING THAT A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC ABUSE WHO VOLUNTARILY FLEES IS NOT A MISSING PERSON; PROVIDING THAT A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY SHALL NOT PROVIDE INFORMATION, SEEK TO LOCATE OR ENTER INFORMATION INTO THE MISSING PERSONS CLEARINGHOUSE REGARDING A VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WHO IS VOLUNTARILY MISSING; RECONCILING MULTIPLE AMENDMENTS TO THE SAME SECTION OF LAW IN LAWS 2010; RECONCILING CONFLICTING AMENDMENTS TO THE SAME SECTION OF LAW IN LAWS 2010 BY REPEALING LAWS 2010, CHAPTER 32, SECTION 3.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. Section 29-15-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 146, Section 2, as amended by Laws 2010, Chapter 32, Section 2 and by Laws 2010, Chapter 33, Section 3) is amended to read:
"29-15-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Missing Persons Information and Reporting Act:
A. "child" means an individual under the age of eighteen years who is not emancipated;
B. "clearinghouse" means the missing persons information clearinghouse;
C. "custodian" means a parent, guardian or other person who exercises legal physical control, care or custody of a child;
D. "endangered person" means a missing person who:
(1) is in imminent danger of causing harm to the person's self;
(2) is in imminent danger of causing harm to another;
(3) is in imminent danger of being harmed by another or who has been harmed by another;
(4) has been a victim of [a crime as provided in the Crimes Against Household Members Act or in Section 30-3A-3 or 30-3A-3.1 NMSA 1978, or their equivalents in any other jurisdiction;
(5) is or was protected by an order of protection pursuant to the Family Violence Protection Act] domestic abuse and did not voluntarily flee; or
[(6)] (5) has Alzheimer's disease or another degenerative brain disorder;
E. "immediate family member" means the spouse, nearest relative or close friend of a person;
F. "law enforcement agency" means a law enforcement agency of the state, a state agency or a political subdivision of the state;
G. "lead station" means an AM radio station that has been designated as the "state primary station" by the federal communications commission for the emergency alert system;
H. "missing person" means a person whose whereabouts are unknown to the person's custodian or immediate family member and the circumstances of whose absence indicate that:
(1) the person did not leave the care and control of the custodian or immediate family member voluntarily and the taking of the person was not authorized by law; or
(2) the person voluntarily left the care and control of the custodian without the custodian's consent and without intent to return;
I. "missing person report" means information that is:
(1) given to a law enforcement agency on a form used for sending information to the national crime information center; and
(2) about a person whose whereabouts are unknown to the reporter and who is alleged in the form submitted by the reporter to be missing;
J. "person" means an individual, regardless of age;
K. "possible match" means the similarities between unidentified human remains and a missing person that would lead one to believe they are the same person;
L. "reporter" means the person who reports a missing person;
M. "state agency" means an agency of the state, a political subdivision of the state or a public post-secondary educational institution; [and]
N. "state registrar" means the employee so designated by the public health division of the department of health pursuant to the Vital Statistics Act; and
O. "victim of domestic abuse" means a person who has been a victim of a crime as provided in the Crimes Against Household Members Act or in Section 30-3A-3 or 30-3A-3.1 NMSA 1978, or their equivalents in any other jurisdiction, or a person who is or was protected by an order of protection pursuant to the Family Violence Protection Act."
SECTION 2. Section 29-15-5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 146, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:
"29-15-5. CUSTODIAN OR IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER REQUEST FOR INFORMATION.--
A. Upon written or oral request to a law enforcement agency by a custodian or immediate family member of a missing person, and after determining that the missing person was not a victim of domestic abuse who voluntarily fled, the law enforcement agency shall immediately request from the clearinghouse information concerning the missing person that may aid the custodian or immediate family member in the identification or location of the missing person.
B. A law enforcement agency to which a request has been made pursuant to Subsection A of this section shall report to the custodian or immediate family member on the results of its inquiry to the clearinghouse within seven calendar days after the day the request is received by the law enforcement agency, or as soon as the results of its inquiry become available, whichever occurs last; provided that the law enforcement agency shall not report any information about a missing person if the law enforcement agency has reason to believe that the missing person is a victim of domestic abuse who has voluntarily fled."
SECTION 3. Section 29-15-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 146, Section 7, as amended by Laws 2010, Chapter 32, Section 3 and by Laws 2010, Chapter 33, Section 7) is amended to read:
"29-15-7. LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS--MISSING PERSON REPORTS--UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN REMAINS.--
A. Except as provided in Subsection C of this section, a law enforcement agency shall accept without delay and without exception for any reason any report of a missing person and, no later than two hours after receiving a missing person report or additional or supplemental information for the report, shall:
(1) start an appropriate investigation to determine the present location of the missing person and to determine whether the missing person is an endangered person;
(2) provide to the clearinghouse all information the law enforcement agency has relating to an investigation regarding or the location or identification of a missing person;
(3) enter the name of the missing person into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center missing person file; and
(4) if the missing person is determined to be an endangered person, notify the department of public safety in accordance with procedures prescribed by the department.
B. Information not immediately available shall be obtained as soon as possible by the law enforcement agency and, no later than two hours after receipt of the information, entered into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center file as a supplement to the original entry.
C. Subsections A and B of this section shall not apply to a missing person who is a victim of domestic abuse if the law enforcement agency has reason to believe that the person has voluntarily fled.
[C.] D. All New Mexico law enforcement agencies are required to enter information about all unidentified human remains found in their jurisdiction into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center unidentified person file, including all available identifying features of the human remains and a description of the clothing found on the human remains. 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."
SECTION 4. REPEAL.--Laws 2010, Chapter 32, Section 3 is repealed.
SECTION 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2011.
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