74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 158
A-Engrossed
Senate Bill 351
Ordered by the Senate May 4
Including Senate Amendments dated May 4
Sponsored by Senator BROWN (at the request of Michelle Duffy in
memory of her daughter Miranda Gaddis, Lori Pond in memory of
her daughter Ashley Pond, Yvonne and Javier Company in memory
of their son Domingo Company-Ramirez) (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
Establishes procedures for reporting missing persons and
investigating missing person cases, including cases involving
unidentified human remains.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to missing persons; creating new provisions; and
amending ORS 146.003, 146.515, 146.525, 146.535, 146.545,
181.505, 181.506 and 181.643.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 146.003 is amended to read:
146.003. As used in ORS 146.003 to 146.165 and 146.710 to
146.992, unless the context requires otherwise:
(1) 'Approved laboratory' means a laboratory approved by the
State Medical Examiner as competent to perform the blood sample
analysis required by ORS 146.113 (2).
(2) 'Assistant district medical examiner' means a physician
appointed by the district medical examiner to investigate and
certify deaths within a county or district.
(3) 'Cause of death' means the primary or basic disease process
or injury ending life.
(4) 'Death requiring investigation' means the death of a person
occurring in any one of the circumstances set forth in ORS
146.090.
(5) 'Deputy medical examiner' means a person appointed by the
district medical examiner to assist in the investigation of
deaths within a county.
(6) 'District medical examiner' means a physician appointed by
the State Medical Examiner to investigate and certify deaths
within a county or district, including a Deputy State Medical
Examiner.
{ + (7) 'Law enforcement agency' means a county sheriff's
office, municipal police department and the Oregon State
Police. + }
{ - (7) - } { + (8) + } 'Legal intervention' includes an
execution pursuant to ORS 137.463, 137.467 and 137.473 and other
legal use of force resulting in death.
{ - (8) - } { + (9) + } 'Manner of death' means the
designation of the probable mode of production of the cause of
death, including natural, accidental, suicidal, homicidal, legal
intervention or undetermined.
{ - (9) - } { + (10) + } 'Medical examiner' means a
physician appointed as provided by ORS 146.003 to 146.165 to
investigate and certify the cause and manner of deaths requiring
investigation, including the State Medical Examiner.
{ - (10) - } { + (11) + } 'Pathologist' means a physician
holding a current license to practice medicine and surgery and
who is eligible for certification by the American Board of
Pathology.
{ + (12) 'Unidentified human remains' does not include human
remains that are unidentified human remains that are part of an
archaeological site or suspected of being Native American and
covered under ORS chapters 97 and 390 and ORS 358.905 to
358.961. + }
SECTION 2. { + Written policies shall be adopted by Oregon law
enforcement agencies regarding missing persons and shall specify
the procedures for investigating missing persons in order to
ensure that reported missing persons cases, particularly those
involving minor children, are investigated as soon as possible,
utilizing all available resources. In adopting policies under
this section, Oregon law enforcement agencies may consider
standards set by the Oregon Accreditation Alliance and adopt
policies consistent with Oregon Accreditation Alliance standards.
Policies adopted under this section should include the following:
(1) Requirements for accepting missing persons reports;
(2) Procedures for initial investigations;
(3) Responsibility for follow-up investigations;
(4) Standards for maintaining and clearing computer data of
missing persons information stored in the Law Enforcement Data
System and the National Crime Information Center; and
(5) Initiation and activation criteria for Amber Plan alerts
under ORS 181.035. + }
SECTION 3. ORS 146.525 is amended to read:
146.525. (1) When a person is reported as missing to any city,
county or state police agency, the agency, within 12 hours
thereafter, shall enter into state and federal records maintained
for that purpose, a report of the missing person in a format and
according to procedures established by the authorities
responsible respectively for the state and federal records.
(2) The { - police - } { + law enforcement + } agency to
which the report is made:
(a) { - Shall - } { + May + } request from the person
making the report information { + or material + } likely to be
useful in identifying the missing person or the human remains of
the missing person { + , including, but not limited to: + }
{ - ; and - }
{ + (A) The name of the missing person and any alternative
names the person uses;
(B) The date of birth of the missing person;
(C) A physical description of the missing person, including the
height, weight, gender, race, eye color, current hair color and
natural hair color of the missing person, any identifying marks
on the missing person, any prosthetics used by, or surgical
implants in, the missing person and any physical anomalies of the
missing person;
(D) The blood type of the missing person;
(E) The driver license number of the missing person;
(F) The Social Security number of the missing person;
(G) A recent photograph of the missing person;
(H) A description of the clothing the missing person is
believed to have been wearing at the time the person disappeared;
(I) A description of items that the missing person is believed
to have had with the person at the time the person disappeared;
(J) Telephone numbers and electronic mail addresses of the
missing person;
(K) The name and address of any school the missing person
attends;
(L) The name and address of any employer of the missing person;
(M) The name and address of the primary care physician and
dentist of the missing person;
(N) A description of any vehicle that the missing person might
have been driving or riding in when the person disappeared;
(O) The reasons why the person making the missing person report
believes the person is missing;
(P) Any circumstances that indicate that the missing person may
be at risk of injury or death;
(Q) Any circumstances that may indicate that the disappearance
is not voluntary;
(R) Information about a known or possible abductor or a person
who was last seen with the missing person; and
(S) The date of the last contact with the missing person. + }
(b) May request in writing from any dentist, denturist,
physician, optometrist or other medical practitioner possessing
it such medical, dental { - and - } { + or + } other
physically descriptive information as is likely to be useful in
identifying the missing person or the human remains of the
missing person.
(3) The { - police - } { + law enforcement + } agency, upon
obtaining information pursuant to subsection (2) of this section,
shall make a supplementary entry of that information into the
state and federal records described in subsection (1) of this
section. The supplementary report shall be in a format and
according to procedures established by the authorities
responsible respectively for the state and federal records.
SECTION 4. { + (1) A law enforcement agency shall forward a
DNA sample obtained for use in a missing persons case to the
Department of State Police, as directed by the department.
Analysis of the DNA sample by the department is subject to
availability of funds dedicated for that purpose.
(2) A person, or the executor of the person's estate, who was a
missing person and who had a DNA sample obtained for use in the
person's case may request the destruction of the DNA sample, and
any resultant database entries, when the missing person has been
located or identified. The request shall be made in writing to
the department. The department, upon confirming that the status
of the missing person has been resolved, shall destroy the DNA
sample and remove any database entries related to the DNA sample.
(3) As used in this section, 'DNA' means deoxyribonucleic
acid. + }
SECTION 5. ORS 146.515 is amended to read:
146.515. { + (1) + } If a medical examiner is unable to
determine the identity of human remains, the medical examiner
shall, not later than 30 days after such remains are brought to
the medical examiner's attention, notify and provide to the
Superintendent of State Police or the superintendent's designee
all information in the medical examiner's records concerning the
remains.
{ + (2) The medical examiner shall make reasonable attempts
to promptly identify human remains and may consider procedures
consistent with current forensic autopsy performance standards of
the National Association of Medical Examiners. Reasonable
attempts to identify human remains include, but are not limited
to, obtaining:
(a) Photographs of the remains prior to an autopsy;
(b) Dental or skeletal X-rays of the remains;
(c) Photographs of items found with the remains;
(d) Fingerprints of the remains; and
(e) Samples of tissue, bone or hair from the remains that are
suitable for DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) analysis.
(3) The medical examiner may not dispose of unidentified human
remains, or take any action that materially affects the
unidentified human remains, before the medical examiner completes
the steps described in subsection (2) of this section. + }
SECTION 6. ORS 146.535 is amended to read:
146.535. (1) A dentist, denturist, physician, optometrist or
other medical practitioner, upon receipt of a written request
from a { - police - } { + law enforcement + } agency for
identifying information pursuant to ORS 146.525, shall furnish to
the { - police - } agency such information known to the
practitioner upon the request forms provided by the
{ - police - } agency.
(2) Information obtained under this section is restricted to
use for the identification of missing persons or the
identification of unidentified human remains and { - shall not
otherwise be - } { + may not be made + } available to the
public.
(3) Compliance with a written request for information under
this section by a dentist, denturist, physician, optometrist or
other medical practitioner does not constitute a breach of
confidentiality.
SECTION 7. ORS 146.545 is amended to read:
146.545. (1) If the Superintendent of State Police is notified
that a record of unidentified human remains filed by the
Department of State Police under ORS 146.505 corresponds with the
record of a person reported { - to be - } { + as + } missing,
the superintendent shall immediately notify the medical examiner
who reported the unidentified human remains and the
{ - police - } { + law enforcement + } agency that filed the
missing person report under ORS 146.525. If the medical examiner
identifies the remains, { + the medical examiner shall
immediately notify + } the superintendent { - shall be
notified - } and the superintendent shall cancel the report of
unidentified human remains.
(2) When a person reported as missing under ORS 146.525 is
found, or when the remains of the person have been discovered and
identified, the { - police - } { + law enforcement + } agency
to which the person was reported missing shall cancel the reports
to state and federal authorities under ORS 146.525. The agency
shall destroy all information { + and material + } received
under ORS 146.525 relating to a missing person who is discovered
to be living. In the case of a missing person found to be no
longer living, the agency shall seal the information { + and
material + } obtained under ORS 146.525, except as otherwise may
be necessary to investigate or prosecute a criminal action
relating to the person's disappearance or death.
SECTION 8. ORS 181.505 is amended to read:
181.505. (1) The Oregon State Police shall establish and
maintain a missing children { + and other persons + }
clearinghouse that receives from and distributes to local law
enforcement agencies, school districts, state and federal
agencies and the general public information regarding missing
children { + and other persons + }.
(2) The information shall include technical and logistical
assistance, pictures, bulletins, training sessions, reports and
biographical materials that assist local efforts to locate
missing children { + and other persons + }.
(3) The Oregon State Police shall maintain a regularly updated
computerized link with national and other statewide missing
person reporting systems or clearinghouses.
SECTION 9. ORS 181.506 is amended to read:
181.506. The administrator of the { + missing children and
other persons + } clearinghouse established pursuant to ORS
181.505 shall:
(1) Provide information and training to local law enforcement
{ + agencies + } and child welfare agencies and to other state
agencies having child welfare duties.
(2) Appoint an advisory committee consisting of persons with
interest and training related to missing children { + and other
persons + } to advise { + the administrator + } on operation of
the clearinghouse and to serve without compensation or expense
reimbursement.
(3) Seek public and private grants and gifts for purposes of
the clearinghouse and the duties required by this section.
(4) Maintain a 24-hour hotline to receive and provide
information on missing children { + and other persons + }.
SECTION 10. ORS 181.643 is amended to read:
181.643. Subject to the availability of funds, the Board on
Public Safety Standards and Training shall ensure that all police
officers and certified reserve officers are trained to
investigate and report cases of missing children { + and other
persons + }. When federal training programs are made available to
the state at no cost to the state, the board shall offer the
training to police officers and certified reserve officers.
SECTION 11. { + ORS 146.505, 146.515, 146.525, 146.535 and
146.545 and sections 2 and 4 of this 2007 Act are added to and
made a part of ORS 146.003 to 146.165. + }
----------