II
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1220
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 9, 2005
Mr. Dodd (for himself, Ms. Collins, and Mr. Leahy) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
A BILL
To assist law enforcement in their efforts to recover missing children and to strengthen the standards for State sex offender registration programs.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Prevention and Recovery of Missing
Children Act of 2005
.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
An improved registration system for sex offenders and others who commit predatory acts against children will provide law enforcement agencies with additional information critical to preventing and promptly resolving such crimes.
The most recent annual data shows that about 58,000 children were abducted by nonfamily members, usually people who are strangers to the children. The most frequent victims were teenage girls. Almost ½ of these victims were sexually molested.
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, which links more than 16,000 Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, is a critical means of cooperation among law enforcement agencies.
Delays in entering missing children reports into the NCIC database leads to investigative delays when time is critical to ensuring the safe return of missing children, as evidenced by the fact that in 74 percent of abduction homicide cases the child is dead within the first 3 hours and 91 percent are killed within 24 hours.
Missing child reporting requirements
In general
Section 3702 of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5780) is amended—
by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively;
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
ensure that no law enforcement agency within the State establishes or maintains any policy that requires the removal of a missing person entry from its State law enforcement system or the National Crime Information Center computer network based solely on the age of the person;
; and
in paragraph (3), as so redesignated, by
striking immediately
and inserting within 2 hours of
receipt
.
Standards for sex offender registration programs
In general
Section 170101 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 14071) is amended—
in subsection (b)—
in paragraph (1)(A)—
by striking clause (i), and inserting the following:
inform the person of the duty to register and obtain the information required for such registration, including the person’s name, current address, anticipated future residence, employer name and address, license plate number and other identifying information about each vehicle that the person owns, and student enrollment information;
;
by striking clause (iv) and inserting the following:
obtain fingerprints, a photograph, and a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sample, unless they were obtained within the previous 3 months;
;
in clause (v), by striking the period at
the end and inserting the following: ; and
; and
by adding at the end the following:
for persons who are incarcerated, perform each of the duties under clauses (i) through (v) prior to the release of that person from incarceration.
;
in paragraph (2)(A), in the second
sentence, by inserting registration information for persons intending to
move to another State is promptly made available to the registering agency of
that State, and that
after State procedures shall also ensure
that
;
by striking paragraph (3) and inserting the following:
Verification
For all persons required to register under this section, State procedures shall provide for verification of registry information at least once every 90 days.
;
by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following:
Notification of local law enforcement agencies of changes in registry information
State procedures shall provide that all persons required to register under this section shall report a change of name, address, employer name and address, vehicle information, and student enrollment information to a law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction where the person will reside, not later than 2 business days after such change takes effect.
; and
by adding at the end the following:
Current photograph
State procedures shall provide for local law enforcement to obtain a photograph for all persons required to register under this section—
at the initial registration of the person; and
at least once a year from the time of verification of the registry information of that person, throughout the term of registration.
Driver’s license or identification card
State procedures shall require that all persons required to register under this section obtain, at the time of initial registration, a driver’s license or identification card from the State Department of Motor Vehicles in the State in which that person resides.
; and
in subsection (d)—
by striking A
and inserting
the following:
In general
A
; and
by adding at the end the following:
Felony
States shall designate a failure to comply with the registration and verification requirements of this section as a felony and permit such failure to be grounds for the immediate issuance of an arrest warrant.
Considerations
States shall consider a failure to comply with the registration and verification requirements of this section as an ongoing offense for the purpose of statutes of limitation, and shall consider a failure to register each item of changed registry information as a separate offense.
.