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HB1357
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
1357
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating
to missing persons
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION
1.
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The legislature finds that alert
programs like the AMBER alert and silver alert have been highly successful
tools for helping to locate missing persons.
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According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
since the implementation of the AMBER alert program in 1996, 1,221 missing
children have been recovered due to its use.
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The same center reports that since 2022, more than six thousand silver
alerts have been activated nationally, and more than eighty per cent of those
missing elders were safely located.
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The
legislature recognizes that in missing persons cases, it can be critical to
locate the person quickly.
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Law
enforcement agencies have emphasized that the first seventy-two hours of a
missing person investigation offer the best hope of finding helpful witnesses
and of locating the person alive.
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By
quickly disseminating information in cases involving child abduction or a
missing elder, the AMBER alert and silver alert programs allow the community to
assist in the search.
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The
legislature also recognizes that a disproportionate number of the State's
missing person cases involve indigenous persons, specifically Native Hawaiian
and Pacific Islander women and girls.
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According to Missing Children's Center Hawaii, of the thirty-seven
publicly reported missing persons cases between 2020 and 2022, seventy-seven
per cent were female, and eighty‑four per cent were Native Hawaiian.
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Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women
and girls who go missing are also more likely than people from other
demographics to become victims of sex trafficking.
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Between October 2021 and May 2022, sex
trafficking victims represented fifty-nine percent of the clients seeking
social services through the nonprofit Susannah Wesley Community Center, and of
those, forty-five per cent were Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
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Based on
the success of the AMBER alert and silver alert programs, the legislature finds
that a dedicated alert is needed to help address the widespread problem of
missing indigenous persons in Hawaii.
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Accordingly,
the purpose of this Act is to establish a missing indigenous person alert
program to supplement the AMBER alert and silver alert programs and to help
safely locate more missing people.
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SECTION 2.
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Chapter 353C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as
follows:
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�353C-
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Missing indigenous person alert program.
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(a)
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The department shall develop
and implement a missing indigenous person alert program to rapidly disseminate
information about a person subject to the alert.
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(b)
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If
a person is reported missing to a law enforcement agency and that agency
determines that the conditions of subsection (g) are met, the agency may
request the department to activate a missing indigenous person alert.
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If the department concurs that the conditions
of subsection (g) are met, the department shall activate the alert within the
geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency.
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(c)
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Radio, television, cable, and satellite systems are encouraged, but not
required, to cooperate with disseminating the information contained in a missing
indigenous person alert.
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(d)
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Upon the activation of a missing indigenous person alert, the department
shall assist the investigating law enforcement agency by issuing a
be-on-the-lookout alert, issuing an electronic flyer, or activating a
changeable message sign, as permissible.
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(e)
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The department, as permitted, may use the Wireless Emergency Alerts
System.
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(f)
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The department, as permitted, may use a changeable message sign if the
following conditions are met:
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(1)
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The investigating
law enforcement agency determines that a vehicle may be involved in the missing
person incident; and
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(2)
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Specific
vehicle identification is available for public dissemination.
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(g)
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A law enforcement agency may request from the
department that a missing indigenous person alert be activated if the agency
determines that all of the following conditions are met regarding the
investigation of the missing person:
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(1)
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The missing
person is indigenous, including Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, Native
American, Native Alaskan, or First Nations;
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(2)
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The law
enforcement agency has utilized all available local resources;
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(3)
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The law
enforcement agency determines that the person has gone missing under
unexplained or suspicious circumstances;
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(4)
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The law
enforcement agency believes that the missing person is in the company of a
potentially dangerous person, or there are other factors indicating that the
missing person may be in peril, including factors indicating that the missing
person has been the victim of domestic violence; and
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(5)
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There is
information that, if disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe
recovery of the missing person.
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(h)
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For purposes of this section, "missing
indigenous person alert" means a notification activated pursuant to this
section, designed to issue and coordinate alerts with respect to a situation
that meets the conditions of subsection (g).
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SECTION
3.
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There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $
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or so much thereof as may be necessary
for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be
necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the establishment and use of the
missing indigenous person alert program.
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The sums
appropriated shall be expended by the
department of law enforcement for the purposes of this Act.
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SECTION
4.
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New statutory material is
underscored.
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SECTION 5.
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This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Missing
Persons; Missing Indigenous Women; Alert; Appropriation
Description:
Establishes
and appropriates moneys for a Missing Indigenous Person Alert program to help
locate indigenous persons who are missing and thought to be in danger.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.