Add §236, amd §§837-f, 837-m & 221, Exec L; amd §92-w, St Fin L; amd §628, Tax L
Establishes a missing persons unit within the division of state police; adds women to the responsibility of the missing and exploited children clearinghouse; provides that by January first, two-thousand twenty-seven included in the curriculum for the training of law enforcement shall be missing and exploited women and missing and exploited women and children of color and indigenous descent; requires the reporting duties of law enforcement departments to include missing women, in addition to missing children and vulnerable adults; relates to the missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse fund; relates to the gift for missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse fund.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5200
SPONSOR: Reyes TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing a missing
persons unit within the division of state police; to amend the executive
law, in relation to adding women to the responsibility of the missing
and exploited children clearinghouse; to amend the state finance law, in
relation to the missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse
fund; and to amend the tax law, in relation to the gift for missing and
exploited women and children clearinghouse fund
PURPOSE OF BILL:
The purpose of this legislation is to establish a specialized unit with-
in the division of state police, called the missing persons unit, which
will have advanced training in responding to missing persons reports,
with a particular focus on missing women and children of color and
indigenous descent. The missing persons unit will work in conjunction
with the missing and exploited women and children clearing-house and
perform tasks related to investigating missing persons reports. The aim
of this legislation is to improve the response to and investigation of
missing persons cases, particularly those involving vulnerable groups,
and to increase the chances of finding missing individuals.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. amends section 236 of the executive law to create a missing
persons unit within the division of state police.
Section 2. amends section 837-f of the executive law to add women to the
Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse.
Section 3. amends section 837-m of the executive law to add women to the
reporting duties of law enforcement with respect to missing children and
vulnerable adults.
Section 4. amends section 221 of the executive law by adding a new
subdivision 4 which provides the authority and option based on best
judgement for a police officer, peace officer, or policy agency to
dispatch reports of missing women over the police communication system.
Section 5. amends section 92-w of the state finance law to add women to
the Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse Fund.
Section 6. amends section 628 of the tax law to add women to the Gift
for Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse Fund.
Section 7. is the enacting clause.
JUSTIFICATION:
The establishment of a specialized unit within the division of state
police, called the missing persons unit, is crucial to improving the
response to and investigation of missing persons cases in the state of
New York. With advanced training in responding to missing persons
reports, this unit will be equipped to handle cases involving vulnerable
groups, particularly missing women and children of color and indigenous
descent.
The missing persons unit will work in conjunction with the missing and
exploited children clearing-house which is expanded under this bill to
include women, further increasing the chances of finding missing indi-
viduals. The expertise and resources provided by this specialized unit
will be vital in improving the state's ability to locate missing
persons, bringing closure to families, and ensuring that justice is
served.
Furthermore, by focusing on vulnerable populations, this legislation
will address the disproportionate impact of missing persons cases on
women and children of color and indigenous descent. This legislation
will provide much-needed support to those communities, ensuring that
they receive the attention and resources necessary to address the issue
of missing persons.
In conclusion, the establishment of the missing persons unit is an
important• step towards improving the response to and investigation of
missing persons cases in the state of New York. By providing advanced
training and focusing on vulnerable populations, this unit will be well-
equipped to address the challenges facing our communities and bring
closure to families in need.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A7534/S6890
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it
shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment
and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation
of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
completed on or before such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5200
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 12, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. REYES -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Governmental Operations
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to establishing a missing
persons unit within the division of state police; to amend the execu-
tive law, in relation to adding women to the responsibility of the
missing and exploited children clearinghouse; to amend the state
finance law, in relation to the missing and exploited women and chil-
dren clearinghouse fund; and to amend the tax law, in relation to the
gift for missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse fund
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The executive law is amended by adding a new section 236 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 236. Missing persons unit. There is hereby established within the
4 division of state police the missing persons unit, which shall be a
5 specialized unit having advanced training in responding to missing
6 persons reports. The missing persons unit shall work in conjunction with
7 the missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse and perform
8 tasks related to investigating missing persons reports.
9 § 2. Section 837-f of the executive law, as added by chapter 880 of
10 the laws of 1986, subdivision 10-a as added by chapter 600 of the laws
11 of 1997, subdivision 12 as amended by chapter 579 of the laws of 1997,
12 subdivision 14 as amended by chapter 381 of the laws of 2004 and para-
13 graph (c) of subdivision 14 as amended by chapter 348 of the laws of
14 2005, is amended to read as follows:
15 § 837-f. Missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse. There
16 is hereby established within the division a missing and exploited women
17 and children clearinghouse to provide a comprehensive and coordinated
18 approach to the tragic problems of missing and exploited women and chil-
19 dren. In addition to the activities of the statewide central register
20 for missing women and children, the commissioner shall be authorized to:
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07991-01-5
A. 5200 2
1 1. Plan and implement programs to ensure the most effective use of
2 federal, state and local resources in the investigation of missing and
3 exploited women and children;
4 2. Exchange information and resources with other states, and within
5 New York state, concerning missing and exploited women and children;
6 3. Establish a case data base which will include nonidentifying infor-
7 mation on reported women and children and facts developed in the phases
8 of a search, and analyze such data for the purposes of: assisting law
9 enforcement in their current investigations of missing and exploited
10 women and children, developing prevention programs and increasing under-
11 standing of the nature and extent of the problem; and share the data and
12 analysis on a regular basis with the National Center for Missing and
13 Exploited Children;
14 4. Disseminate a directory of resources to assist in the locating of
15 missing women and children;
16 5. Cooperate with public and private schools and organizations to
17 develop education and prevention programs concerning women and child
18 safety for communities, parents and children;
19 6. Provide assistance in returning recovered women and children who
20 are located out-of-state;
21 7. By January first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven arrange for the
22 development of a curriculum for the training of law enforcement person-
23 nel investigating cases involving missing and exploited children; and
24 further by January first, two thousand twenty-seven include in the
25 curriculum for the training of law enforcement concerning missing and
26 exploited women and missing and exploited women and children of color
27 and indigenous descent;
28 8. Assist federal, state and local agencies in the investigation of
29 cases involving missing and exploited women and children;
30 9. Utilize available resources to duplicate photographs and posters of
31 women and children reported as missing by police and with consent of
32 parents, guardians or others legally responsible, disseminate this
33 information throughout the state;
34 10. Beginning on January first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven, dissem-
35 inate, on a regular basis, a bulletin containing information on children
36 in the missing children's register to the state education department
37 which shall then forward such bulletin to every public and private
38 school where parents, guardians or others legally responsible for such
39 children have given consent;
40 10-a. (a) By November first, nineteen hundred ninety-seven prescribe
41 general guidelines to enable the state legislature and state agencies to
42 assist in the location and recovery of missing women and children. The
43 guidelines shall provide information relating to:
44 (i) the form and manner in which materials and information pertaining
45 to missing women and children including but not limited to biographical
46 data and pictures, sketches or other likenesses may be included in
47 stationery, newsletters and other written or electronic printings;
48 (ii) appropriate sources from which such materials and information may
49 be obtained;
50 (iii) the procedures by which such materials and information may be
51 obtained; and
52 (iv) any other matter the clearinghouse considers appropriate.
53 (b) By January first, nineteen hundred ninety-eight arrange for the
54 transmission of biographical information and pictures, sketches or other
55 likenesses of missing women and children to state agencies, departments
56 and the legislature to use in printings.
A. 5200 3
1 11. Operate a toll-free twenty-four hour hotline for the public to use
2 to relay information concerning missing women and children;
3 12. Submit an annual report to the governor and legislature regarding
4 the activities of the clearinghouse including statistical information
5 involving reported cases of missing women and children pursuant to
6 section eight hundred thirty-seven-m of this article and a summary of
7 the division's efforts with respect to the use of monies from the miss-
8 ing and exploited women and children clearinghouse fund created pursuant
9 to section ninety-two-w of the state finance law; and
10 13. Take such other steps as necessary to assist in education,
11 prevention, service provision and investigation of cases involving miss-
12 ing and exploited women and children.
13 14. (a) In consultation with the division of state police and other
14 appropriate agencies, develop, and regularly update and distribute,
15 model missing woman or child prompt response and notification plans,
16 which shall be available for use, in their discretion, as appropriate,
17 by local communities and law enforcement personnel. Such plans shall
18 involve a pro-active, coordinated response, planned in advance, that may
19 be promptly triggered by law enforcement personnel upon confirmation by
20 a police officer, peace officer or police agency of a report of a miss-
21 ing woman or child, as defined in subdivision one of section eight
22 hundred thirty-seven-e of this article.
23 (b) Such plans shall, at a minimum, provide that:
24 (i) the name of such missing woman or child, a description of the
25 woman or child and other pertinent information may be promptly
26 dispatched over the police communication system, pursuant to subdivision
27 three of section two hundred twenty-one of this chapter;
28 (ii) such information may be immediately provided orally, electron-
29 ically or by facsimile transmission to one or more radio stations and
30 other broadcast media outlets serving the community including, but not
31 limited to, those which have voluntarily agreed, in advance, to promptly
32 notify other such radio stations and other broadcast media outlets in
33 like manner;
34 (iii) such information may be immediately provided by electronic mail
35 message to one or more internet service providers and commercial mobile
36 service providers serving the community including, but not limited to,
37 those which have voluntarily agreed, in advance, to promptly notify
38 other such internet service providers in like manner;
39 (iv) participating radio stations and other participating broadcast
40 media outlets serving the community may voluntarily agree to promptly
41 broadcast a missing woman or child alert providing pertinent details
42 concerning the woman or child's disappearance, breaking into regular
43 programming where appropriate;
44 (v) participating internet service providers and commercial mobile
45 service providers serving the community may voluntarily agree to prompt-
46 ly provide by electronic mail message a missing woman or child alert
47 providing pertinent details concerning the woman or child's disappear-
48 ance;
49 (vi) police agencies not connected with the basic police communication
50 system in use in such jurisdiction may transmit such information to the
51 nearest or most convenient electronic entry point, from which point it
52 may be promptly dispatched, in conformity with the orders, rules or
53 regulations governing the system; and
54 (vii) no dispatch or transmission of a report concerning a missing
55 woman or child shall be required by such plan if the investigating
56 police department advises, in its discretion, that the release of such
A. 5200 4
1 information may jeopardize the investigation or the safety of the woman
2 or child, or requests forbearance for any reason.
3 (c) The commissioner shall also designate a unit within the division
4 that shall assist law enforcement agencies and representatives of radio
5 stations, broadcast media outlets, internet service providers and
6 commercial mobile service providers in the design, implementation and
7 improvement of missing women or child prompt response and notification
8 plans. Such unit shall make ongoing outreach efforts to local govern-
9 ment entities and local law enforcement agencies to assist such entities
10 and agencies in the implementation and operation of such plans with the
11 goal of implementing and operating such plans in every jurisdiction in
12 New York state.
13 (d) The commissioner shall also maintain and make available to appro-
14 priate state and local law enforcement agencies up-to-date information
15 concerning technological advances that may assist in facilitating the
16 recovery of missing women or children. Such information shall include,
17 but not be limited to, technology using computer assisted imaging to
18 "age enhance" photographs of missing women or children, and technology
19 that may be used to enter such photographs and other pertinent informa-
20 tion concerning missing women or children into a database accessible to
21 appropriate officials and persons.
22 § 3. Section 837-m of the executive law, as amended by chapter 255 of
23 the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
24 § 837-m. Reporting duties of law enforcement departments with respect
25 to missing women and children and vulnerable adults. The chief of every
26 police department, each county sheriff and the superintendent of state
27 police shall report, at least semi-annually, to the division with
28 respect to specified cases of missing women and children that are
29 closed. Such reports shall be in the form and manner prescribed by the
30 division and shall contain such information as the division deems neces-
31 sary including, but not limited to, information regarding recovered
32 women and children who were arrested, women and children who were the
33 victims of criminal activity or exploitation and women and children who
34 were found deceased and information regarding the alleged abductor or
35 killer of such women and children. Any law enforcement department
36 referred to in this section may, in its discretion, include in such
37 semi-annual reports information relating to missing vulnerable adults as
38 such term is defined in section eight hundred thirty-seven-f-one of this
39 article.
40 § 4. Section 221 of the executive law is amended by adding a new
41 subdivision 4 to read as follows:
42 4. When any police officer, peace officer or police agency in the
43 state shall receive a complaint of a missing woman, such police officer,
44 peace officer or police agency may, in such police officer's, peace
45 officer's or police agency's discretion, as appropriate, cause informa-
46 tion concerning such missing woman to be promptly dispatched over the
47 police communication system. Police agencies not connected with the
48 basic system may transmit such information to the nearest or most
49 convenient electronic entry point, from which point it may be promptly
50 dispatched, in conformity with the orders, rules or regulations govern-
51 ing the system. No dispatch or transmission of a report concerning a
52 missing woman shall be required by this subdivision if the investigating
53 police department advises, in its discretion, that the release of such
54 information may jeopardize the investigation or the safety of the woman,
55 or requests forbearance for any reason.
A. 5200 5
1 § 5. Section 92-w of the state finance law, as added by chapter 530 of
2 the laws of 1994, subdivision 2 as amended by chapter 579 of the laws of
3 1997, subdivision 2-a as added by chapter 453 of the laws of 2015, and
4 the opening paragraph of subdivision 2-a as amended by section 27-e of
5 part UU of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016, is amended to read as
6 follows:
7 § 92-w. Missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse fund.
8 1. A special fund to be known as the "missing and exploited women and
9 children clearinghouse fund" is hereby established in the custody of the
10 state comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance.
11 2. The fund shall consist of all monies transferred to such fund
12 pursuant to law, all monies required by any provision of law to be paid
13 into or credited to the fund, all moneys from gifts pursuant to section
14 six hundred twenty-eight of the tax law and any interest earnings which
15 may accrue from the investment of monies in the fund. Nothing contained
16 herein shall prevent the state from receiving grants, gifts or bequests
17 for the purposes of the fund as defined in this section and depositing
18 them into the fund according to law.
19 2-a. On or before the first day of February each year, the director of
20 the division of criminal justice services shall provide a written report
21 to the temporary president of the senate, speaker of the assembly, chair
22 of the senate finance committee, chair of the assembly ways and means
23 committee, chair of the senate committee on codes, chair of the assembly
24 codes committee, the state comptroller and the public. Such report shall
25 include how the monies of the fund were utilized during the preceding
26 calendar year, and shall include:
27 (i) the amount of money dispersed from the fund and the award process
28 used for such disbursements;
29 (ii) recipients of awards from the fund;
30 (iii) the amount awarded to each;
31 (iv) the purposes for which such awards were granted; and
32 (v) a summary financial plan for such monies which shall include esti-
33 mates of all receipts and all disbursements for the current and succeed-
34 ing fiscal years, along with the actual results from the prior fiscal
35 year.
36 3. Monies of the fund, when allocated, shall be available to the divi-
37 sion of criminal justice services for the enhancement of public informa-
38 tion and prevention education efforts including production of print,
39 video and radio advertising materials, brochures, pamphlets and outdoor
40 advertising, or for any other activity or purpose that will aid in the
41 prevention of the exploitation of women and children or in the recovery
42 of missing and exploited women and children, as deemed necessary by the
43 missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse created pursuant
44 to section eight hundred thirty-seven-f of the executive law.
45 4. Monies shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of
46 the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the director of
47 the division of criminal justice services.
48 § 6. Section 628 of the tax law, as added by chapter 579 of the laws
49 of 1997, is amended to read as follows:
50 § 628. Gift for missing and exploited women and children clearinghouse
51 fund. Effective for any tax year commencing on or after January first,
52 nineteen hundred ninety-seven, an individual in any taxable year may
53 elect to contribute to the missing and exploited women and children
54 clearinghouse fund. Such contribution shall be in any whole dollar
55 amount and shall not reduce the amount of state tax owed by such indi-
56 vidual. The commissioner shall include space on the personal income tax
A. 5200 6
1 return form to enable a taxpayer to make such contribution. Notwith-
2 standing any other provision of law, all revenues collected pursuant to
3 this section shall be paid to the missing and exploited women and chil-
4 dren clearinghouse fund established pursuant to and used only for those
5 purposes enumerated in section ninety-two-w of the state finance law.
6 § 7. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
7 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amend-
8 ment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implemen-
9 tation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and
10 completed on or before such effective date.
