Relates to the identification of unknown dead and missing persons; requires the county medical examiner and coroner to provide certain information to the division of criminal justice services and to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System created by the Office of Justice Program's National Institute of Justice.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10278A
SPONSOR: Otis TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the executive law, in relation to the
identification of unknown dead and missing persons
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of this legislation amends subsection 1 of section 838 of the
Executive Law, creating a requirement that, upon receipt of unidentified
remains, all county medical examiners will be required to report identi-
fying information of those remains to the National Missing and Unidenti-
fied Persons System. This legislation also updates the language of the
existing section regarding copies of fingerprints to include "or the
equivalent digital image", an option currently utilized by medical exam-
iners.
Section 2 specifies that this act shall take effect on the sixtieth day
after it shall become law.
JUSTIFICATION:
Nationwide, medical examiners and coroners handle approximately 4,400
unidentified human decedent cases annually, nearly a quarter of which
remain unidentified after one year. Many remains are buried without
identification. It is estimated that only 15% of unidentified remains
are reported to federal databases. To remedy this situation, the US
Department of Justice established and maintains the National Missing and
Unidentified Remains System (NamUs) that serves as a national database
of information pertaining to unidentified remains. The identifying
information, which is entered online by medical examiners, can then be
accessed by law enforcement agencies and family members who are trying
to find their missing loved ones.
The staggering number of missing and unidentified remains in the United
States signals the need for every state to improve their requirements
for sharing this information with federal and other state authorities.
Under current law, all county medical examiners in the state are
required to report information about unidentified remains to the NYS
Division of Criminal Justice Services. Some, but not all, medical exam-
iner offices voluntarily report identifying information of these remains
to the NamUs System. However, there is presently no state law require-
ment that they convey this information to the national NamUs database.
This legislation would promote more comprehensive sharing of identifying
information by including reporting to NamUs in the state statute that
covers the reporting of unidentified remains by coroners and medical
examiners.
By requiring all medical examiners in the state to report all identify-
ing information on unidentified remains to NamUs, there will be a great-
er chance that a law enforcement agency or family member will be able to
identify the remains as those of a specific missing person. This legis-
lation will strengthen the probability of identifying remains, help to
solve crimes and, perhaps most importantly, bring closure to families of
missing individuals.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None to the State of New York
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10278--A
IN ASSEMBLY
May 20, 2016
___________
Introduced by M. of A. OTIS, LENTOL, JOYNER -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Governmental Operations -- reported and referred to
the Committee on Codes -- reported and referred to the Committee on
Rules -- Rules Committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted
as amended and recommitted to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to the identification of
unknown dead and missing persons
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 838 of the executive law, as
2 amended by chapter 331 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as
3 follows:
4 1. Every county medical examiner and coroner shall promptly furnish
5 the division [promptly] and the National Missing and Unidentified
6 Persons System created by the Office of Justice Program's National
7 Institute of Justice, with copies of fingerprints on standardized eight
8 inch by eight inch fingerprint cards or the equivalent digital image,
9 personal descriptions and other identifying data, including date and
10 place of death, of all deceased persons whose deaths are in a classi-
11 fication requiring inquiry by the medical examiner or coroner where the
12 deceased is not identified or the medical examiner or coroner is not
13 satisfied with the decedent's identification. The division shall prompt-
14 ly make available personal descriptions and other identifying data,
15 including date and place of death, of such deceased persons to all law
16 enforcement agencies in the state, and upon request, to law enforcement
17 agencies outside of the state.
18 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
19 have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15326-02-6
