Public Chapter 342

HOUSE BILL NO. 801

By Representatives Jackson, Hargett, Cooper, Boner, Hassell, Scroggs, Haley, Pleasant, Langster, Godsey, Goins, Dunn, Ford, Patton, Beavers, Brooks

Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 1457

By Senators Rochelle, McNally, Williams, Harper, Crowe

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38, Chapter 6, to authorize creation of a Tennessee Missing Children Registry within the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:

SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38, Chapter 6, is amended by adding the following as a new section:

Section___.

(a) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is authorized to create within the bureau a Missing Children Registry. The registry shall contain pertinent information about, a picture of, and the current status of certain children in this State who have been reported as missing.

(b) The bureau shall have the sole discretion to determine the number of missing children to be placed on the registry, the criteria for placing a child on the registry and the definition of "missing child".

(c) When the Missing Children Registry is complete and in an accessible format, but no later than January 1, 1998, the bureau shall place, maintain and update it on the State of Tennessee's internet home page.

(d) When the Tennessee Internet Criminal Information Center is created within the bureau and becomes operational, the Missing Children Registry shall become a part of such Center.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.