[117th Congress Public Law 327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[[Page 4453]]
BILLY'S LAW
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Public Law 117-327
117th Congress
An Act
To increase accessibility to the National Missing and Unidentified
Persons System, to facilitate data sharing between such system and the
National Crime Information Center database of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, and for other purposes. <<NOTE: Dec. 27, 2022 - [S.
5230]>>
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled, <<NOTE: Billy's Law.>>
SECTION 1. <<NOTE: 34 USC 10101 note.>> SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as ``Billy's Law'' or the ``Help Find the
Missing Act''.
SEC. 2. <<NOTE: 34 USC 40506.>> AUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL
MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM.
(a) In General.--The Attorney General, shall maintain the ``National
Missing and Unidentified Persons System'' or ``NamUs'', consistent with
the following:
(1) <<NOTE: Contracts.>> The NamUs shall be a national
information clearinghouse and resource center for missing,
unidentified, and unclaimed person cases across the United
States administered by the National Institute of Justice and
managed through an agreement with an eligible entity.
(2) <<NOTE: Coordination.>> The NamUs shall coordinate or
provide--
(A) online database technology which serves as a
national information clearinghouse to help expedite case
associations and resolutions;
(B) various free-of-charge forensic services to aid
in the identification of missing persons and
unidentified remains;
(C) investigative support for criminal justice
efforts to help missing and unidentified person case
resolutions;
(D) technical assistance for family members of
missing persons;
(E) assistance and training by coordinating State
and local service providers in order to support
individuals and families impacted by the loss or
disappearance of a loved one; and
(F) training and outreach from NamUs subject matter
experts, including assistance with planning and
facilitating Missing Person Day events across the
country.
(b) Permissible Use of Funds.--
(1) In general.--The permissible use of funds awarded under
this section for the implementation and maintenance of the
agreement created in subparagraph (a)(1) include the use of
funds--
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(A) to hire additional personnel to provide case
support and perform other core NamUs functions;
(B) to develop new technologies to facilitate timely
data entry into the relevant data bases;
(C) to conduct contracting activities relevant to
core NamUs services;
(D) to provide forensic analyses to support the
identification of missing and unidentified persons, to
include, but not limited to DNA typing, forensic
odontology, fingerprint examination, and forensic
anthropology;
(E) to train State, local, and Tribal law
enforcement personnel and forensic medicine service
providers to use NamUs resources and best practices for
the investigation of missing and unidentified person
cases;
(F) to assist States in providing information to the
NCIC database, the NamUs database, or any future
database system for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed
person cases;
(G) to report to law enforcement authorities in the
jurisdiction in which the remains were found information
on every deceased, unidentified person, regardless of
age;
(H) to participate in Missing Person Days and other
events to directly support family members of the missing
with NamUs case entries and DNA collections;
(I) to provide assistance and training by
coordinating State and local service providers in order
to support individuals and families;
(J) <<NOTE: Analysis.>> to conduct data analytics
and research projects for the purpose of enhancing
knowledge, best practices, and training related to
missing and unidentified person cases, as well as
developing NamUs system enhancements;
(K) to create and maintain a secure, online,
nationwide critical incident response tool for
professionals that will connect law enforcement, medico-
legal and emergency management professionals, as well as
victims and families during a critical incident; and
(L) for other purposes consistent with the goals of
this section.
(c) Amendments to the Crime Control Act of 1990 to Require Reports
of Missing Children to NamUs.--
(1) Reporting requirement.--Section 3701(a) of the Crime
Control Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 41307(a)) is amended by striking
the period and inserting the following: ``and, consistent with
section 3 (including rules promulgated pursuant to section 3(c))
of the Help Find the Missing Act, shall also report such case,
either directly or through authorization described in such
section to transmit, enter, or share information on such case,
to the NamUs databases.''.
(2) State requirements.--Section 3702 of the Crime Control
Act of 1990 (34 U.S.C. 41308) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (2), by striking ``or the National
Crime Information Center computer database'' and
inserting ``, the National Crime Information Center
computer database, or the NamUs databases'';
(B) in the matter following paragraph (3), by
striking ``and the National Crime Information Center
computer networks'' and inserting ``, the National Crime
Information
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Center computer networks, and the NamUs databases''; and
(C) in paragraph (4)--
(i) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A),
by inserting ``or the NamUs databases'' after
``National Crime Information Center''; and
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and
National Crime Information Center computer
networks'' and inserting ``, National Crime
Information Center computer networks, and the
NamUs databases''.
(3) Effective date.--The amendments made by this subsection
shall apply with respect to reports made before, on, or after
the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 3. <<NOTE: Deadlines. 34 USC 40507.>> INFORMATION SHARING.
(a) Access to NCIC.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall, in accordance with
this section, provide access to the NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified
Person Files to the National Institute of Justice or its designee
administering the NamUs program as a grantee or contractor, for the
purpose of reviewing missing and unidentified person records in NCIC for
case validation and NamUs data reconciliation.
(b) Electronic Data Sharing.--
<<NOTE: Assessment. Plan. Criteria.>> Not later than 6 months after the
date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall, in accordance
with this section, have completed an assessment of the NCIC and NamUs
system architectures and governing statutes, policies, and procedures
and provide a proposed plan for the secure and automatic data
transmission of missing and unidentified person records that are
reported to and entered into the NCIC database, with the following
criteria, to be electronically transmitted to the NamUs system.
(1) Missing Person cases with an MNP (Missing Person) code
of CA (Child Abduction) or AA (Amber Alert) within 72 hours of
entry into NCIC;
(2) Missing Person cases with an MNP code EME (Endangered)
or EMI (Involuntary) within 30 days of entry into NCIC;
(3) <<NOTE: Time period.>> All other Missing Person cases
that have been active (non-cancelled) in NCIC for 180 days;
(4) <<NOTE: Time period.>> Unidentified person cases that
have been active (non-cancelled) in NCIC for 60 days;
(5) <<NOTE: Updates.>> Once case data are transmitted to
NamUs, cases are marked as such within NCIC, and any updates to
such cases will be transmitted to NamUs within 24 hours.
(c) Rules on Confidentiality.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Attorney General, in consultation
with the Director of the FBI, shall promulgate rules pursuant to
notice and comment that specify the information the Attorney
General may allow NamUs to access from the NCIC Missing Person
and Unidentified Person files or be transmitted from the NCIC
database to the NamUs databases for purposes of this Act. Such
rules shall--
(A) provide for the protection of confidential,
private, and law enforcement sensitive information
contained in the NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified
Person files; and
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(B) specify the circumstances in which access to
portions of information in the Missing Person and
Unidentified Person files may be withheld from the NamUs
databases.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES.
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Attorney General shall issue a report to offices of forensic
medicine service providers, and Federal, State, local, and Tribal law
enforcement agencies describing the best practices for the collection,
reporting, and analysis of data and information on missing persons and
unidentified human remains. Such best practices shall--
(1) provide an overview of the NCIC database and NamUs
databases;
(2) describe how local law enforcement agencies, and offices
of forensic medicine service providers should access and use the
NCIC database and NamUs databases;
(3) describe the appropriate and inappropriate uses of the
NCIC database and NamUs databases; and
(4) describe the standards and protocols for the collection,
reporting, and analysis of data and information on missing
persons and unidentified human remains.
SEC. 5. <<NOTE: 34 USC 40508.>> REPORT TO CONGRESS.
(a) In General.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, the Attorney General
shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of
Representatives and the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a
report describing the status of the NCIC database and NamUs databases.
(b) Contents.--The report required by subsection (a) shall describe,
to the extent available, information on the process of information
sharing between the NCIC database and NamUs databases.
SEC. 6. <<NOTE: 34 USC 40506 note.>> DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Authorized agency.--The term ``authorized agency'' means
a Government agency with an originating agency identification
(ORI) number and that is a criminal justice agency, as defined
in section 20.3 of title 28, Code of Federal Regulations.
(2) FBI.--The term ``FBI'' means the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(3) Forensic medicine service provider.--The term ``forensic
medicine service provider'' means a State or unit of local
government forensic medicine service provider having not fewer
than 1 part-time or full-time employed forensic pathologist, or
forensic pathologist under contract, who conducts medicolegal
death investigations, including examinations of human remains,
and who provides reports or opinion testimony with respect to
such activity in courts of law within the United States.
(4) Forensic science service provider.--The term ``forensic
science service provider'' means a State or unit of local
government agency having not fewer than 1 full-time
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analyst who examines physical evidence in criminal or
investigative matters and provides reports or opinion testimony
with respect to such evidence in courts in the United States.
(5) Namus databases.--The term ``NamUs databases'' means the
National Missing and Unidentified Persons System Missing Persons
database and National Missing and Unidentified Persons System
Unidentified Decedents database maintained by the National
Institute of Justice of the Department of Justice, which serves
as a clearinghouse and resource center for missing,
unidentified, and unclaimed person cases.
(6) NCIC database.--The term ``NCIC database'' means the
National Crime Information Center Missing Person File and
National Crime Information Center Unidentified Person File of
the National Crime Information Center database of the FBI,
established pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United States
Code.
(7) Qualifying law enforcement agency defined.--The term
``qualifying law enforcement agency'' means a State, local, or
Tribal law enforcement agency.
(8) State.--The term ``State'' means any State of the United
States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Approved December 27, 2022.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY--S. 5230:
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, Vol. 168 (2022):
Dec. 8, considered and passed Senate.
Dec. 14, considered and passed House.
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