45th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2001

RELATING TO MISSING CHILDREN; PROVIDING FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT NOTIFICATION OF THE STATE REGISTRAR WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 32A-14-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1987, Chapter 25, Section 3) is amended to read:

"32A-14-3. MISSING CHILD REPORTS--LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES--DUTIES.--

A. Upon receiving a report of a child believed to be missing, a law enforcement agency shall:

(1) immediately enter identifying and descriptive information about the child into the national crime information center computer. Law enforcement agencies having direct access to the national crime information center 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] that do not have direct access to the system; and

(2) [within thirty days, notify the state registrar in writing of the missing child] notify the state registrar within twenty-four hours, by telephone, facsimile or electronic transmission, of the missing child. Within three days of this initial notification, the law enforcement agency shall make [the] a written notification in a manner and form prescribed by the state registrar. [The notification] Both notifications shall include the missing child's name, date of birth, county and state of birth, the mother's maiden name, the name of the noncustodial parent if the parents are not married, the name and telephone number of a contact person at the law enforcement agency reporting and any other information required by the state registrar.

B. Immediately after a missing child is located, the law enforcement agency [which] that located or returned the missing child shall notify the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over the investigation, and the originating agency shall clear the entry from the national crime information center computer and shall, within twenty-four hours, notify the state registrar in writing that the missing child has been located."