Help Find the Missing Act

(This measure has not been amended since it was reported to the House on February 22, 2010. The summary of that version is repeated here.)

Help Find the Missing Act or Billy's Law - (Sec. 2) Authorizes the Attorney General to maintain public databases, known as the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System or NamUs, to contain missing persons records and unidentified remains cases to assist in identifying missing people and solving cases of unidentified human remains. Transfers to NamUs all functions, personnel, assets, liabilities, and administrative actions carried out by the National Institute of Justice that are applicable to NamUs.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2016.

(Sec. 3) Directs the Attorney General to: (1) share information on missing persons and unidentified human remains contained in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database with the NamUs databases; (2) promulgate rules to provide for the protection of law enforcement sensitive, confidential, and private information contained in the NCIC database; and (3) update the online data entry format for the NCIC database and NamUs databases to facilitate the entry of new information into such databases.

Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 to require that reports of missing children (individuals under the age of 21) submitted to the NCIC database are also submitted to NamUs.

(Sec. 4) Directs the Attorney General to establish a grant program to assist state law enforcement agencies, offices of coroners, offices of medical examiners, and other authorized agencies in reporting information on missing persons and unidentified remains to the NCIC and NamUs databases for the purpose of locating such missing persons and identifying such remains. Imposes requirements on grantees for reporting missing persons records and unidentified remains cases to the databases and for submitting certain types of information, including DNA samples, dental records, and finger prints. Allows the use of grant funds for hiring and training additional personnel, outsourcing, and facilitating the transfer of data from NCIC to NamUs databases.

Authorizes appropriations for FY2011-FY2015.

(Sec. 5) Requires the Attorney General to issue a report within one year after the enactment of this Act to the offices of medical examiners, offices of coroners, and federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies describing the best practices for the collection, reporting, and analysis of data and information on missing persons and unidentified human remains.

(Sec. 6) Requires the Attorney General to submit a report within one year after the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, describing the status of the NCIC database and the NamUs databases.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov