ARIZONA STATE SENATE

JAKE AGRON

LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH ANALYST

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Telephone: (602) 926-3171

RESEARCH STAFF

TO:                  MEMBERS OF THE SENATE

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

DATE:            March 23, 2021

SUBJECT:      Strike everything amendment to H.B. 2098, relating to missing children; law enforcement; reporting.

Purpose

            Outlines reporting requirements for law enforcement agencies that receive a report of a missing, kidnapped or runaway child.

Background

            Statute requires, for a dependent child, if the there is a report or notice that the child is at risk of serious harm and the child's location is unknown, that the Department of Child Safety must notify the appropriate law enforcement agency and provide the information required to make the record entry into the Arizona Crime Information Center (ACIC) and the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) missing person database (A.R.S. § 8-810). If a child is reported missing to a law enforcement agency, that agency must notify the state registrar in the state of the child's birth. The notification shall include the missing child's name, date of birth and county of birth. If the state registrar is notified that a child born in Arizona is missing, the state registrar must flag the child's registered birth certificate. If the missing child is found, the law enforcement agency that reported the child missing must notify the state registrar and the state registrar must remove the flag from the child's registered birth certificate (A.R.S. § 36-339).

            There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.

Provisions

1. Requires a law enforcement agency that receives a report of a missing, kidnapped or runaway child to:

a) immediately make a record entry in the ACIC, the NCIC missing person database and the National Missing and Unidentified Persons (NMUP) System; and

b) notify the national center for missing and exploited children, in addition to the other required entities, if the child is in the foster care system.

2. Prohibits an entry to be removed from any database or system until the child is found or the case is closed.

3. Requires a law enforcement agency, if it does not have access to the ACIC, the NCIC database or the NMUP System, to provide the reported information to the county sheriff or the Department of Public Safety (DPS).

4. Requires the county sheriff or DPS to make the record entry in the database or system for the law enforcement agency, when applicable.

5. Becomes effective on the general effective date.