VA Laws/Alerts in Place

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imamaze

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Please post here any current laws/alerts in place relating to the Missing/UID.
 
All of the below laws can be found here http://leg1.state.va.us/000/src.htm by entering 'missing' in the search keyword box.

Virginia State Codes for Missing Persons

Parental Abduction -
§ 18.2-49.1. Violation of court order regarding custody and visitation; penalty.
A. Any person who knowingly, wrongfully and intentionally withholds a child from either of a child's parents or other legal guardian in a clear and significant violation of a court order respecting the custody or visitation of such child, provided such child is withheld outside of the Commonwealth, is guilty of a Class 6 felony.

B. Any person who knowingly, wrongfully and intentionally engages in conduct that constitutes a clear and significant violation of a court order respecting the custody or visitation of a child is guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor upon conviction of a first offense. Any person who commits a second violation of this section within 12 months of a first conviction is guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor, and any person who commits a third violation occurring within 24 months of the first conviction is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

(1987, c. 704; 1989, c. 486; 1994, c. 575; 2002, cc. 576, 596; 2003, c. 261.)

Contributing to Delinquency of Minor -
§ 18.2-371. Causing or encouraging acts rendering children delinquent, abused, etc.; penalty; abandoned infant.
Any person 18 years of age or older, including the parent of any child, who (i) willfully contributes to, encourages, or causes any act, omission, or condition which renders a child delinquent, in need of services, in need of supervision, or abused or neglected as defined in § 16.1-228 or (ii) engages in consensual sexual intercourse with a child 15 or older not his spouse, child, or grandchild, shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. This section shall not be construed as repealing, modifying, or in any way affecting §§ 18.2-18, 18.2-19, 18.2-61, 18.2-63, and 18.2-347.

If the prosecution under this section is based solely on the accused parent having left the child at a hospital or rescue squad, it shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution of a parent under this section that such parent safely delivered the child to a hospital that provides 24-hour emergency services or to an attended rescue squad that employs emergency medical technicians, within the first 14 days of the child's life. In order for the affirmative defense to apply, the child shall be delivered in a manner reasonably calculated to ensure the child's safety.

(Code 1950, § 18.1-14; 1960, c. 358; 1975, cc. 14, 15; 1981, cc. 397, 568; 1990, c. 797; 1991, c. 295; 1993, c. 411; 2003, cc. 816, 822; 2006, c. 935; 2008, cc. 174, 206.)



§ 52-31. Missing Children Information Clearinghouse established.

The Superintendent shall establish, organize, equip, staff and maintain within the Department of State Police a Missing Children Information Clearinghouse as a central repository of information regarding missing children. Such information shall be collected, processed, maintained and disseminated by the Clearinghouse as accurately and completely as possible to assist in the location of missing children.

(1985, c. 259.)

§ 52-31.1. Superintendent to establish network.
The Superintendent of State Police shall establish a network to implement reports of the disappearance of children by local law-enforcement agencies to local school division superintendents and the State Registrar of Vital Records. The network shall be designed to establish cooperative arrangements between local law-enforcement agencies and local school divisions concerning reports of missing children, whereby law enforcement shall within 24 hours or the next business day, notify the principal of the school where the missing child is or was most recently enrolled and inform the school official of the report, and notices to law-enforcement agencies of requests for copies of the cumulative records and birth certificates of missing children. Upon notification of a request for a marked school record or other information regarding a missing child, the Superintendent shall immediately initiate an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the request, including a search for any record that may exist showing who has legal custody of the child and for any record that may disclose an allegation of child abuse perpetrated against a member of the child's family. The network shall also establish a mechanism for reporting the identities of all missing children to the State Registrar of Vital Records.

(1990, c. 295; 2006, c. 295.)

§ 52-32. Definitions.
As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise or it is otherwise specifically provided:

"Missing child" means any person who is under the age of 21 years, whose temporary or permanent residence is in Virginia, or is believed to be in Virginia, whose whereabouts are unknown to any parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis of the child, and who has been reported as missing law-enforcement agency within the Commonwealth.

"Missing child report" means a report prepared in a format prescribed by the Superintendent for use by law-enforcement agencies to report missing child information to the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse.

(1985, c. 259; 1986, c. 330; 2004, c. 248.)

§ 52-33. Powers and duties of Clearinghouse.
The Clearinghouse shall have the following powers and duties:

1. To maintain a centralized file for the exchange of information on missng children within the Commonwealth. The Clearinghouse shall accept a missing child report from any law-enforcement officer as defined in § 9.1-101. Any parent, guardian, legal custodian or other person standing in loco parentis of a missing child may contact the Clearinghouse to verify the entry of a missing child report on such child. If the Clearinghouse is requested to verify a missing child report which has not been received, the Clearinghouse shall immediately contact the appropriate law-enforcement agency and take such measures as may be necessary to determine whether a report should be entered in the centralized file.

2. To maintain a system of intrastate communication to receive information relating to the disappearance or sighting of missing children. Such system shall be available twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week.

3. To maintain close liaison with the National Crime Information Center and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children for the exchange of information on children suspected of interstate travel and for assistance in the operation of the Clearinghouse.

4. To circulate a monthly bulletin on missing children to the news media, all law-enforcement agencies, and every school in the Commonwealth.

5. To provide emergency flyers containing physical and situational descriptions of missing children when requested by law-enforcement agencies.

6. To provide for training of public and private organizations regarding the operation of the Clearinghouse.

7. To provide assistance to law-enforcement agencies in planning and implementing programs to fingerprint children.
(1985, c. 259.)
 
§ 15.2-1718. Receipt of missing child reports.

No police or sheriff's department shall establish or maintain any policy which requires the observance of any waiting period before accepting a missing child report as defined in § 52-32. Upon receipt of a missing child report by any police or sheriff's department, the department shall immediately, but in all cases within two hours of receiving the report, enter identifying and descriptive data about the child into the Virginia Criminal Information Network and the National Crime Information Center Systems, forward the report to the Missing Children Information Clearinghouse within the Department of State Police, notify all other law-enforcement agencies in the area, and initiate an investigation of the case.

(1985, c. 259, § 15.1-131.9; 1990, c. 239; 1997, c. 587; 2004, cc. 248, 443.)

§ 22.1-288.1. Notation in school records of missing children; local law-enforcement cooperation.
A. Each school board shall receive reports of disappearances of any children living within the school division from local law enforcement pursuant to § 52-31.1.

B. Upon notification by a local law-enforcement agency of a child's disappearance, the principal of any school in which the child was enrolled at the time of the disappearance shall indicate, by mark, in the child's cumulative record that the child has been reported as missing. Upon notification by law enforcement that the child is located, the principal shall remove the mark from the record.

C. Upon receiving a request from any school or person for copies of the cumulative records and birth certificate of any child who has been reported by a local law-enforcement agency to be missing, the school being requested to transfer the records shall immediately notify the law-enforcement agency that provided the report to the school of the child's disappearance of the location of the school or person requesting the cumulative records and birth certificate of the child, without alerting the requestor of such report.

D. For the purposes of this section, a "mark" shall mean an electronic or other indicator that (i) is readily apparent on the student's record and (ii) will immediately alert any school personnel that the record is that of a missing child.

(1990, c. 295; 2006, c. 295.)

§ 32.1-275.2. Notation on birth records of missing children.
Upon receiving a report of the disappearance of any child born in this Commonwealth, the State Registrar shall indicate in a clear and conspicuous manner in the child's birth record that the child has been reported as missing, including the title and location of the law-enforcement agency providing the report. Upon receiving a request for any birth records containing a report of the disappearance of any child, the State Registrar shall immediately notify the local law-enforcement agency which provided the missing child report to the State Registrar. The State Registrar shall transmit any relevant information concerning the applicant's identity, address, and other pertinent data immediately to the relevant local law-enforcement agency. The State Registrar shall retain the original written request until notified of the missing child's recovery or the child attains the age of eighteen. Upon notification that any missing child has been recovered, the State Registrar shall remove the report of the disappearance from the child's birth record.

(1990, c. 295.)
 
§ 52-34. Notification required when missing child located.
Any law-enforcement officer who has reported a missing child to the Clearinghouse shall notify the Clearinghouse immediately upon determining the location of the child.

(1985, c. 259.)

§ 52-34.3. Activation of Amber Alert Program upon an incident of child abduction.

A. Upon receipt of a notice of a child abduction from a law-enforcement agency, the Virginia State Police shall confirm the accuracy of the information and provide assistance in the implementation of the Amber Alert Program as the investigation dictates.

B. Amber Alerts may be local, regional, or statewide. The initial decision to make a local or regional Amber Alert shall be at the discretion of the local or regional law-enforcement officials. Prior to making a local or regional Amber Alert, the local or regional law-enforcement officials shall confer with the Virginia State Police and provide information regarding the abducted child to the Virginia State Police. The initial decision to make a statewide Amber Alert shall be at the discretion of the Virginia State Police. The Missing Children Information Clearinghouse operated by the Virginia State Police shall serve as a central repository for information related to an abduction.

C. In those situations where appropriate, the Virginia State Police shall send the Amber Alert to Virginia's emergency alert system. Participating media are encouraged to issue the alert at designated intervals as specified by the Amber Alert Program.

D. In those situations where appropriate and an existing system is available, the Virginia State Police shall contact the operator of the existing automatic dialing-announcing device system to target residents in the geographic location where the abducted child was most recently seen. For purposes of this section, "automatic dialing-announcing device system" means a device that (i) selects and dials telephone numbers; and (ii) working alone or in conjunction with other equipment, disseminates a prerecorded or synthesized voice message to the telephone number called.

E. The Amber Alert shall include such information as the law-enforcement agency deems appropriate that will assist in the safe recovery of the abducted child.

F. The Amber Alert shall be cancelled under the terms of the Amber Agreement. Any local law-enforcement agency that locates a child who is the subject of an alert shall notify the Virginia State Police immediately that the child has been located.

(2003, cc. 83, 86; 2004, c. 270; 2007, c. 130.)

§ 52-34.4. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:

"Media" means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public.

"Missing senior adult" means an adult whose whereabouts are unknown and who is over 60 years of age and suffers a cognitive impairment to the extent that he is unable to provide care to himself without assistance from a caregiver, including a diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease or dementia, and whose disappearance poses a credible threat as determined by a law-enforcement agency to the health and safety of the adult and under such other circumstances as deemed appropriate by the Virginia State Police.

"Senior alert" means the notice of a missing senior adult provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Senior Alert Agreement.

"Senior Alert Agreement" means a voluntary agreement between law-enforcement officials and members of the media whereby a senior adult will be declared missing, and the public will be notified by media outlets, and includes all other incidental conditions of the partnership as found appropriate by the Virginia State Police.

"Senior Alert Program" or "Program" means the procedures and Senior Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a missing senior adult.

(2007, cc. 486, 723.)
 
§ 15.2-1718.1. Receipt of missing senior adult reports.
A. No police or sheriff's department shall establish or maintain any policy which requires the observance of any waiting period before accepting a missing senior adult report. Upon receipt of a missing senior adult report by any police or sheriff's department, the department shall immediately, but in all cases within two hours of receiving the report, enter identifying and descriptive data about the senior adult into the Virginia Criminal Information Network and the National Crime Information Center Systems, forward the report to the Department of State Police, notify all other law-enforcement agencies in the area, and initiate an investigation of the case.

B. For purposes of this section:
"Missing senior adult report" means a report prepared in a format prescribed by the Superintendent of State Police for use by law-enforcement agencies to report missing senior adult information and photograph to the Department of State Police.

(2007, cc. 486, 723.)

§ 52-34.5. Establishment of the Virginia Senior Alert Program.
The Virginia State Police shall develop policies for the establishment of uniform standards for the creation of Senior Alert Programs throughout the Commonwealth. The Virginia State Police shall (i) inform local law-enforcement officials of the policies and procedures to be used for the Senior Alert Programs; (ii) assist in determining the geographic scope of a particular Senior Alert; and (iii) establish procedures and standards by which a local law-enforcement agency shall verify that a senior adult is missing and shall report such information to the Virginia State Police.
The establishment of a Senior Alert Program by a local law-enforcement agency and the media is voluntary, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to be a mandate that local officials or the media establish or participate in a Senior Alert Program.

(2007, cc. 486, 723.)

§ 52-34.6. Activation of Senior Alert Program upon an incident of a missing senior adult.
A. Upon receipt of a notice of a missing senior adult from a law-enforcement agency, the Virginia State Police shall confirm the accuracy of the information and provide assistance in the activation of the Senior Alert Program as the investigation dictates.

B. Senior Alerts may be local, regional, or statewide. The initial decision to make a local Senior Alert shall be at the discretion of the local law-enforcement official. Prior to making a local Senior Alert, the local law-enforcement official shall confer with the Virginia State Police and provide information regarding the missing senior adult to the Virginia State Police. The decision to make a regional or statewide Senior Alert shall be at the discretion of the Virginia State Police.

C. The Senior Alert shall include the missing senior adult information as defined in § 15.2-1718.1 and any other such information as the law-enforcement agency deems appropriate that will assist in the safe recovery of the missing senior adult.

D. The Senior Alert shall be cancelled under the terms of the Senior Alert Agreement. Any local law-enforcement agency that locates a missing senior adult who is the subject of an alert shall notify the Virginia State Police immediately that the missing senior adult has been located.

(2007, cc. 486, 723.)
 
§ 64.1-104.5. Evidence of death or status.
In addition to otherwise applicable rules of evidence, the following rules relating to a determination of death and status shall apply:

1. Death occurs when an individual is determined to be dead in accordance with the provisions of § 54.1-2972* or Chapter 5 (§ 64.1-105 et seq.)* of this title.

*[shannon2008's note] 54.1-2972 pertains to medical death, 64.1-105 pertains to missing and presumed death and is pasted below.

2. A certified or authenticated copy of a death certificate purporting to be issued by a governmental official or agency, domestic or foreign, of the place where the death purportedly occurred is prima facie evidence of the fact, place, date, and time of death and the identity of the decedent.

3. A certified or authenticated copy of any record or report purporting to be issued by a governmental official or agency, domestic or foreign, that an individual is missing, detained, dead, or alive is prima facie evidence of the status of the individual and of the dates, times, identities, circumstances, and places disclosed by the record or report.

4. In the absence of prima facie evidence of death under subdivision 2 or 3, the facts of death may be established by clear and convincing evidence, including circumstantial evidence.

5. In the absence of evidence disputing the time of death stated on a document described in subdivision 2 or 3, such a document that states a time of death 120 hours or more after the time of death of another individual, however the time of death of the other individual is determined, establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the individual survived the other individual by 120 hours.

(1994, c. 475.)

§ 64.1-105. Presumption of death from absence or disappearance; in cause wherein death comes in question.
A.
1. Any person who has resided in this Commonwealth who (i) leaves, does not return to the Commonwealth for seven years successively and is not heard from; (ii) disappears for seven years successively and is not heard from; or (iii) disappears in a foreign country, whose body has not been found and who is not known to be alive, upon issuance of a report of presumptive death by the Department of State of the United States, shall be presumed to be dead. Any person not residing in this Commonwealth, but owning real or personal property herein, who disappears for seven years successively from the place of his residence outside of this Commonwealth and is not heard from, shall be presumed to be dead.

2. The presumption created by this subsection shall arise in any cause wherein the person's death is in question, unless proof is offered that he was alive within the time specified or, in the case of a presumed death in a foreign country, at any time following his disappearance, whether before or after the report of presumptive death was issued.

B. The fact that any person was exposed to a specific peril of death may be a sufficient basis for determining at any time after the exposure that the person is presumed to have died less than seven years after the person was last heard from.

C. Any person on board any ship or vessel underway on the high seas who disappears from such ship or vessel, or any person on board an aircraft that disappears at sea, and who is not known to be alive, whose body has not been found or identified prior to a hearing of a board of inquiry as to such disappearance shall be presumed to be dead upon the findings of a board of inquiry that the person is presumed dead, or six months after the date of such disappearance, whichever shall first occur.

D. Before any final order or decree is entered in a cause under subsection A, B or C in favor of the alleged heirs, devisees, next of kin, legatees, beneficiaries, survivors, or other successors in interest of the presumed decedent, or persons claiming by, through or under them, or any of them, proceedings shall be held in conformity with §§ 64.1-107 through 64.1-112.

E. The person presumed to be dead under subsection A, B, or C his heirs at law, devisees, next of kin, legatees, beneficiaries, survivors, or other successors in interest may be made parties defendant to proceedings in respect to real or personal property in which the person presumed dead may have an undivided interest, by order of publication or other process as provided by law. The proceedings, whether in the nature of partition, eminent domain or otherwise, shall not be stayed in respect to the division, sale or other disposition of the entire property. The provisions of subsection D shall be applicable only to the portion of the property set apart or to the share of the proceeds to which such person would be entitled.

(Code 1950, § 64-101; 1954, c. 430; 1968, c. 656; 1989, c. 153; 1996, cc. 675, 684; 2003, c. 254; 2006, c. 351.)
 
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