The Florida Senate

937.021  Missing child reports.

937.022  Missing Children Information Clearinghouse.

937.023  Department of Education to compile list of missing Florida school children; forms; notification.

937.024  Birth records of missing children; registrars' duties.

937.025  Missing children; student records; reporting requirements; penalties.

937.028  Fingerprints; missing children.

937.031  Dental records of missing persons; access and use.

937.021  Missing child reports.--

(1)  Upon the filing of a police report that a child is missing by the parent or guardian, the law enforcement agency receiving the report shall immediately inform all on-duty law enforcement officers of the existence of the missing child report, communicate the report to every other law enforcement agency having jurisdiction in the county, and transmit the report for inclusion within the Florida Crime Information Center computer.

(2)  A police report that a child is missing may be filed with the law enforcement agency having jurisdiction in the county or municipality in which the child was last seen prior to the filing of the report, without regard to whether the child resides in or has any significant contacts with that county or municipality. The filing of such a report shall impose the duties specified in subsection (1) upon that law enforcement agency.

History.--s. 1, ch. 83-32; s. 11, ch. 2003-146.

937.022  Missing Children Information Clearinghouse.--

(1)  There is created a Missing Children Information Clearinghouse within the Department of Law Enforcement. The clearinghouse is established as a central repository of information regarding missing children. Such information shall be collected and disseminated to assist in the location of missing children.

(2)  The clearinghouse shall be supervised by a director who shall be employed upon the recommendation of the executive director. The executive director shall establish services deemed appropriate by the department to aid in the location of missing children.

(3)  The clearinghouse shall:

(a)  Establish a system of intrastate communication of information relating to children determined to be missing by their parents, guardians, or legal custodians or by law enforcement agencies.

(b)  Provide a centralized file for the exchange of information on missing children within the state.

1.  Every state, county, or municipal law enforcement agency shall submit to the clearinghouse information received by it pursuant to s. 937.021.

2.  Any parent, guardian, or legal custodian may submit a missing child report to the clearinghouse about a child whose whereabouts is unknown, regardless of the circumstances, subsequent to reporting such child missing to the appropriate law enforcement agency within the county in which the child became missing, which missing child report shall be included in the clearinghouse database.

(c)  Interface with the National Crime Information Center for the exchange of information on children suspected of interstate travel.

(d)  Collect, process, maintain, and disseminate information on missing children and strive to maintain or disseminate only accurate and complete information.

(4)  The parent, guardian, or legal custodian who is responsible for notifying the clearinghouse or a law enforcement agency about a missing child shall immediately notify the clearinghouse or the agency of any child whose location has been determined.

(5)  Information received pursuant to s. 937.021 about a missing child, which information has been included in the clearinghouse database, shall be purged by the appropriate law enforcement agency immediately upon location of such child.

(6)  As used in this section, the term:

(a)  "Missing child" means a person who is under the age of 18 years; whose temporary or permanent residence is in, or is believed to be in, this state; whose location has not been determined; and who has been reported as missing to a law enforcement agency.

(b)  "Missing child report" means a report prepared on a form designed by the Department of Law Enforcement for the use by private citizens and law enforcement agencies to report information about missing children to the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse.

History.--s. 1, ch. 84-43.

937.023  Department of Education to compile list of missing Florida school children; forms; notification.--

(1)  The Department of Education shall provide by rule for a program to identify and locate missing Florida school children who are enrolled in Florida public school districts in kindergarten through grade 12. A "missing Florida school child" is defined for the purposes of this section as a child 18 years of age or younger whose whereabouts are unknown. Pursuant to such program, the department shall:

(a)  Collect each month a list of missing Florida school children as provided by the Florida Crime Information Center. The list shall be designed to include such information as the department deems necessary for the identification of the missing school child.

(b)  Compile from the information collected pursuant to paragraph (a) a list of missing Florida school children, which list shall be distributed monthly to all public school districts admitting children to kindergarten through grade 12. The list shall include the names of all such missing children, together with such other information as the department deems necessary. Each school district shall distribute this information to the public schools in the district by whatever manner it deems appropriate.

(c)  Notify the appropriate local, state, or federal law enforcement authority as soon as any additional information is obtained or contact is made with respect to a missing Florida school child.

(2)  Every public school district in this state shall notify the Department of Education at its earliest known contact with any child whose name appears on the department's list of missing Florida school children.

History.--ss. 1, 2, ch. 83-211.

937.024  Birth records of missing children; registrars' duties.--

(1)  The Office of Vital Statistics shall:

(a)  Collect each month a list of missing children as provided by the Department of Law Enforcement. The list shall be designed to include such information as the Office of Vital Statistics deems necessary for the identification of missing children born in this state.

(b)  Compile from the information collected pursuant to paragraph (a) a list of missing children born in this state.

(c)  In its centralized records in Jacksonville, flag the birth certificate or birth record of each identified missing child in such a manner that all employees of the office shall know that the certificate or record is that of a child reported as missing.

(d)  Recall each missing child's birth certificate or birth record from the local registrar of vital statistics in the county of the missing child's birth.

(e)  Collect each month a list of missing children who have been located, as provided by the Department of Law Enforcement's Florida Crime Information Center; identify which, if any, of the located children were born in this state; and remove its flags from the birth certificates or birth records of such children accordingly.

(2)(a)  A copy of the birth certificate or information concerning the birth record of any child whose record has been flagged or recalled pursuant to paragraph (1)(c) or paragraph (1)(d) may not be provided by the State Registrar or any local registrar in response to any inquiry, unless the flag has been removed pursuant to paragraph (1)(e).

(b)  When a copy of the birth certificate or information concerning the birth record of a child whose record has been flagged or recalled is requested in person, the person accepting the request shall immediately notify his or her supervisor. The person making the request shall complete a form supplying his or her name, address, telephone number, social security number, and relationship to the missing child and the name, address, and birth date of the missing child. The driver's license of the person making the request, if available, or some other proper form of identification, shall be photocopied and returned to the person. The person shall be informed that a copy of the certificate will be delivered to the person by mail. The registrar's personnel shall note the physical description of the person making the request, and, when the person leaves the registrar's office, the supervisor shall immediately notify the Department of Law Enforcement's Missing Children Information Clearinghouse, which must then notify the local law enforcement agency of the request and the information obtained under this paragraph. The registrar shall retain the form completed by the person making the request.

(c)  When a copy of the birth certificate of a child whose record has been flagged or recalled is requested in writing, the person receiving the request shall immediately notify his or her supervisor. The supervisor shall immediately notify the Department of Law Enforcement's Missing Children Information Clearinghouse, which must then notify the local law enforcement agency of the request. If requested, the registrar shall provide a copy of the written request to law enforcement. The registrar shall retain the original written request.

(3)  This section does not preclude the Office of Vital Statistics from flagging and recalling birth certificates or birth records of children reported missing directly to the office by a local law enforcement agency or from removing such flags from certificates or records based upon notification from the Department of Law Enforcement's Missing Children Information Clearinghouse or local law enforcement.

(4)  Upon notification by a local law enforcement agency or by the Department of Law Enforcement that a child born outside the state is missing, the State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall notify the corresponding officer in the state where the child was born that the child has been reported missing.

History.--s. 2, ch. 87-384; s. 66, ch. 96-388.

937.025  Missing children; student records; reporting requirements; penalties.--

(1)  Notwithstanding any law that provides for the confidentiality of student records maintained by a public or private school, upon notification by the Department of Law Enforcement that a child is listed or reported as a missing child, the school in which the child is currently enrolled, or was previously enrolled, shall flag the student records in such a manner that whenever a copy of or information concerning the records of the missing child is requested, the person authorized to provide such copy or information is alerted to the fact that the child has been listed or reported as missing.

(2)  The school shall immediately report to the local law enforcement agency and the Department of Law Enforcement any request concerning flagged student records, and shall report any information regarding the request that may assist law enforcement agencies in locating the missing child.

(3)  The school or any employee of the school who provides such notification and information in good faith is immune from civil liability for reporting and providing the information.

(4)  Upon notification by the Department of Law Enforcement that the records no longer need to be flagged, the school shall remove the flag from the student records.

(5)  Notwithstanding any other law, an employee of the state or a local governmental agency, a person who is employed under a contract with the state or a local governmental agency, or an employee of a public or private school within the state shall promptly report to the local law enforcement agency and the Department of Law Enforcement any information received or possessed that could assist in:

(a)  Locating a child who has been reported as missing.

(b)  Ascertaining the identity of the person who has actual custody of a missing child.

(c)  Determining whether a missing child is in danger of physical injury or death.

(6)  Any person who makes a report in good faith to a law enforcement agency as required by this section is immune from civil liability for such action.

(7)  A person who knowingly provides false information concerning a missing child or the efforts to locate and return a missing child to a parent, family member, or guardian of a child who has been reported missing commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.

History.--s. 67, ch. 96-388.

937.028  Fingerprints; missing children.--

(1)  If fingerprints have been taken for the purpose of identifying a child, in the event that child becomes missing, the state agency, public or private organization, or other person who took such fingerprints shall not release the fingerprints to any law enforcement agency or other person for any purpose other than the identification of a missing child. Such records and data are exempt from the provisions of s. 119.07(1).

(2)  Fingerprints of children taken and retained by any state agency, public or private organization, or other person, excluding the parent or legal custodian of the child, shall be destroyed when the child becomes 18 years of age.

History.--s. 2, ch. 84-43; s. 1, ch. 94-95; s. 439, ch. 96-406.

937.031  Dental records of missing persons; access and use.--When a person has been reported missing and has not been located within 30 days after such report, the law enforcement agency conducting the investigation of the missing person shall request the family or next of kin to provide written consent to contact the dentist of the missing person and request that person's dental records. Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 456.057, a dentist, upon receipt of proof of written consent, shall release a copy of the dental records of the missing person to the law enforcement agency requesting such records, providing or encoding the dental records in a form requested by the Department of Law Enforcement. The law enforcement agency shall then enter the dental records into the criminal justice information system for the purpose of comparing such records to those of unidentified deceased persons.

History.--s. 3, ch. 83-211; s. 169, ch. 98-166; s. 229, ch. 2000-160.