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History
- Print number 216a
- Amend and recommit to children and families
- Referred to children and families
- Referred to children and families
Full text
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Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S216A
Title of bill
An act to amend the executive law, the tax law and the state finance law, in relation to missing children and persons
Purpose
To require semiannual reports by police agencies on missing persons, and to provide for a tax check-off to benefit missing persons related matters.
Summary of provisions
This bill requires the chief of every police department, every county sheriff, and the Superintendent of State police to submit, at least semiannually, reports to the Division of Criminal Justice Services with respect to specified cases of missing persons that are closed. The bill also sets up a tax check-off for an individual to contribute to the Missing and Exploited Persons Clearinghouse Fund. A space will be made available on all personal income tax forms for a taxpayer to make such a contribution. Additionally, it also requires that the clearinghouse in its annual report include information on the cases of missing persons and on the use of the Moines in the Missing and Exploited Persons Clearinghouse Fund.
Justification
This legislation will provide a mechanism by which accurate and current information can be maintained by an agency or as to provide a reliable source for such information when the need arises. Currently, various police forces and law enforcement authorities maintain their own records and statistics. This bill will simply mandate them to provide this information to DCJS on at least a semiannual basis.
It is hoped that if an unidentified deceased child is found, all efforts are made to identify that child. But what happens when a once abducted or runaway child grows up and is found deceased, no longer a child? Looking at the countless young homeless people roaming the streets of our cities, the question must be asked, how many of these were once a missing or abducted child? Very few homeless people are given the dignity of identification following their death. This country does not even keep statistics on missing young adults. We have no way of knowing how many of these young adults are buried in some obscure potter's field, victims of depraved acts This mandatory entry of Unidentified Persons will help put a stop to this. Not only will families of missing children benefit from this enactment but also families of our brave men who fought in the Vietnam War. Hundreds of
these veterans became disenchanted with our society and joined the ranks of the homeless. These men deserve dignity in their death by being identified as veterans of our country.
Furthermore, since the creation of the Missing and Exploited Children Clearinghouse Fund in 1994, a small amount of money has been donated This is in part due to the fact that most people do not know of its existence. By creating a tax check-off we are notifying each tax paying citizen of the fund's existence as well as giving them a simple way to contribute.
Legislative history
S.4403-A of 2007/2008; Amended and recommitted to Finance S.1420/A.6056 of 2009/2010; Referred to Children and Families
Fiscal implications
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.