I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1843

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of 

higher education to notify parents concerning missing person reports 

about their children, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2003

Mr. ANDREWS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 

institutions of higher education to notify parents concerning missing person reports about their children, and 

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Bryan’s Law’’. 

5 SEC. 2. NOTIFICATION. 

6 Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

7 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended—
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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (15) as para2 graph (16); and 

3 (2) by inserting after paragraph (14) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(15) NOTIFICATION.—(A) Each institution 

6 participating in any program under this title, after 

7 the campus police or security authority for the insti8 tution receives a report that a resident student 

9 younger than 21 years of age is missing, shall—

10 ‘‘(i) make a preliminary investigation to 

11 determine the whereabouts of the student; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) subject to subparagraph (B) and if 

13 the authority is unable to verify that the stu14 dent is safe within 24 hours of receiving the re15 port—

16 ‘‘(I) notify the student’s parents, or if 

17 appropriate, any other individual listed as 

18 an emergency contact person for the stu19 dent in records maintained by the institu20 tion, and the local police agency that the 

21 student is missing; and 

22 ‘‘(II) cooperate with the local police 

23 agency regarding the investigation of the 

24 missing student such as entering into a 

25 written agreement with the local police 
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1 agency that establishes the authority’s and 

2 agency’s responsibilities with respect to an 

3 investigation. 

4 ‘‘(B) The 24 hour period described in subpara5 graph (A)(ii) excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and holi6 day periods at the institution, except that once no7 tice is provided under subparagraph (A)(ii)(I) such 

8 period shall apply regardless of the day involved. 

9 ‘‘(C) In this paragraph, the term ‘resident stu10 dent’ means a student who lives in a residence that 

11 is owned and operated by the institution or is other12 wise included within the definition of ‘campus’ as 

13 such term is defined in paragraph (5)(A)(i) of this 

14 subsection. 

15 ‘‘(D) The Secretary may waive the provisions of 

16 this paragraph upon the request of a State that has 

17 enacted a law with requirements that are similar to 

18 the requirements of this paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(E) Nothing in this paragraph may be con20 strued to—

21 ‘‘(i) create a cause of action against any 

22 institution of higher education or any employee 

23 of such an institution for any civil liability; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) establish any standard of care. 
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1 ‘‘(F) Notwithstanding any other provision of 

2 law, evidence regarding compliance or noncompliance 

3 with this paragraph shall not be admissible as evi4 dence in any proceeding of any court, agency, board, 

5 or other entity, except with respect to an action to 

6 enforce this paragraph. 

7 ‘‘(G) Section 444 of the General Education 

8 Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) shall not be con9 strued to prevent an institution from complying with 

10 this paragraph.’’.

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