SENATE BILL 167

49th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2010

INTRODUCED BY

Linda M. Lopez

FOR THE COURTS, CORRECTIONS AND JUSTICE COMMITTEE

AN ACT

RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT; INCLUDING VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE AS ENDANGERED PERSONS IN THE MISSING PERSONS INFORMATION ACT; EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF "IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER"; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE MISSING PERSONS INFORMATION ACT.

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

     Section 1. Section 29-15-1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 146, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "29-15-1. SHORT TITLE.--[This act] Chapter 29, Article 15 NMSA 1978 may be cited as the "Missing Persons Information Act"."

     Section 2. 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 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; [or]

                (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

                [(4)] (6) has Alzheimer's disease;

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

          F. "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;

          G. "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;

          H. "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;

          I. "person" means an individual, regardless of age;

          J. "possible match" means the similarities between an unidentified body of a person and a missing person that would lead one to believe they are the same person;

          K. "reporter" means the person who reports a missing person; and

          L. "state agency" means an agency of the state, a political subdivision of the state or a public post-secondary educational institution."

     Section 3. Section 29-15-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1995, Chapter 146, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:

     "29-15-7. LAW ENFORCEMENT REQUIREMENTS--MISSING PERSON REPORTS--UNIDENTIFIED BODIES.--

          A. A law enforcement agency, upon receiving a missing person report, shall:

                (1) immediately 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) immediately 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, [immediately] notify the department of public safety immediately, within twelve hours of receiving the report, 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 entered into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center file as a supplement to the original entry.

          C. All New Mexico law enforcement agencies are required to enter information about all unidentified bodies of persons found in their jurisdiction into the clearinghouse and the national crime information center unidentified person file, including all available identifying features of the body and a description of the clothing found on the body. 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."

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