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No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Substituted by A10278A
- Ordered to third reading cal.1913
- Committee discharged and committed to rules
- Print number 7987a
- Amend and recommit to finance
- Referred to finance
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Relates to the identification of unknown dead and missing persons
Signed by Governor · Sponsor Steven Otis
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
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 identifying information of those remains to the National Missing and Unidentified 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 examiners.
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 examiner offices voluntarily report identifying information of these remains to the NamUs System. However, there is presently no state law requirement 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 identifying information on unidentified remains to NamUs, there will be a greater chance that a law enforcement agency or family member will be able to identify the remains as those of a specific missing person. This legislation 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.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.