SENATE BILL 278

52nd legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2015

INTRODUCED BY

Jacob R. Candelaria

AN ACT

RELATING TO ENDANGERED PERSONS; CREATING A BRITTANY ALERT PROCEDURE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY.

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) is amended to read:

     "29-15-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Missing Persons Information and Reporting Act:

          A. "Brittany alert" means a notification relating to an endangered person:

                (1) who is a missing person; and

                (2) about whom there is a clear indication that the individual has:

                     (a) a severe physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; or

                     (b) a developmental disability as defined in Subsection H of Section 43-1-3 NMSA 1978;

          [A.] B. "child" means an individual under the age of eighteen years who is not emancipated;

          [B.] C. "clearinghouse" means the missing persons information clearinghouse;

          [C.] D. "custodian" means a parent, guardian or other person who exercises legal physical control, care or custody of a child; or a person who performs one or more activities of daily living for an adult;

          [D.] E. "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; [or]

                (6) has Alzheimer's disease, dementia or another degenerative brain disorder or a brain injury; or

                (7) has a severe physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities or a developmental disability as defined in Subsection H of Section 43-1-3 NMSA 1978;

          [E.] F. "immediate family member" means the spouse, nearest relative or close friend of a person;

          [F.] G. "law enforcement agency" means a law enforcement agency of the state, a state agency or a political subdivision of the state;

          [G.] H. "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.] I. "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.] J. "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.] K. "person" means an individual, regardless of age;

          [K.] L. "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.] M. "reporter" means the person who reports a missing person;

          [M.] N. "silver alert" means a notification relating to an endangered person:

                (1) who is a missing person;

                (2) who is fifty years or older; and

                (3) about whom there is a clear indication that the individual has an irreversible deterioration of intellectual faculties;

          [N.] O. "state agency" means an agency of the state, a political subdivision of the state or a public post-secondary educational institution; and

          [O.] P. "state registrar" means the employee so designated by the public health division of the department of health pursuant to the Vital Statistics Act."

     SECTION 2. A new section of the Missing Persons Information and Reporting Act is enacted to read:

     "[NEW MATERIAL] BRITTANY ALERT ADVISORY.--

          A. The department of public safety shall issue a Brittany alert if, after review and investigation of a missing person report of a person subject to the alert, the department makes an independent determination that the missing person is a person subject to the alert.

          B. The department shall develop and implement Brittany alert procedures for the purpose of disseminating, as rapidly as possible, information about a person subject to the alert. The procedures shall include:

                (1) notification to the lead station of the Brittany alert;

                (2) notification to other public and private media sources and members of the public as necessary; and

                (3) the provision of information about the subject of the Brittany alert, including all identifying information, to the lead station and other media sources."

     SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2015.

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