II 

Calendar No. 487 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 225 

To permit the disclosure of certain information for the purpose of missing 

child investigations. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 31, 2011 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. LEAHY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

SCHUMER, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Reported by Mr. LEAHY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To permit the disclosure of certain information for the 

purpose of missing child investigations. 

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 the ‘‘Access to Information 

5 About Missing Children Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO A 

2 MISSING OR EXPLOITED CHILD. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 110 of title 18, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 2260B. Disclosure of information relating to a 

7 missing or exploited child 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other pro9 vision of law and except as provided under subsection (d), 

10 pursuant to and upon the grant of an ex parte order by 

11 a Federal district court judge or magistrate under sub12 section (b), any information held by any Federal agency 

13 with respect to an individual shall be open (but only to 

14 the extent necessary as provided in such order) to inspec15 tion by, or disclosure to, officers or employees of any Fed16 eral agency— 

17 ‘‘(1) who are personally and directly engaged in 

18 an investigation, judicial or administrative pro19 ceeding, or Federal grand jury proceeding pertaining 

20 to the enforcement of a Federal criminal statute re21 lating to the case of a missing or exploited child; or 

22 ‘‘(2) who seek such an order on behalf of a 

23 State or local law enforcement agency under sub24 section (c). 

25 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR ORDER.—A Federal officer 

26 seeking an ex parte order under this section shall submit 


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1 an application to a Federal district court judge or mag2 istrate and upon such application, the judge or magistrate 

3 may grant the order if the judge or magistrate determines 

4 on the basis of the facts submitted by the Federal officer 

5 that— 

6 ‘‘(1) there is reasonable cause to believe, based 

7 upon information believed to be reliable, that an act 

8 of kidnapping or exploitation of a minor has been 

9 committed; 

10 ‘‘(2) there is reasonable cause to believe that 

11 the information sought is or may be relevant to a 

12 matter relating to the commission of the act; 

13 ‘‘(3) the information is sought exclusively for 

14 use in a criminal investigation or proceeding con15 cerning the act; and 

16 ‘‘(4) the information sought cannot reasonably 

17 be obtained, under the circumstances, from another 

18 source. 

19 ‘‘(c) DISCLOSURE TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW EN20 FORCEMENT AGENCIES.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a written request 

22 which meets the requirements of paragraph (3) by a 

23 State or local law enforcement agency investigating 

24 the case of a missing or exploited child within the 


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1 venue of any Federal district court, a Federal offi2 cer— 

3 ‘‘(A) may apply for an ex parte order from 

4 such court under subsection (a)(2) with respect 

5 to such case; and 

6 ‘‘(B) may disclose the name and mailing 

7 address of the individual obtained as a result of 

8 such an order to the State or local law enforce9 ment agency making such request for the sole 

10 purpose of locating a missing or exploited child. 

11 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—A State or local law en12 forcement agency that receives information under 

13 paragraph (1)(B) shall not disclose the information 

14 to any other person. 

15 ‘‘(3) WRITTEN REQUEST.—A written request 

16 meets the requirements of this paragraph if the re17 quest sets forth— 

18 ‘‘(A) such information as is necessary to 

19 identify the individual with respect to whom an 

20 ex parte order is sought, including the name 

21 and last known mailing address of the indi22 vidual; and 

23 ‘‘(B) the specific reason or reasons why 

24 the disclosure of the name and mailing address 


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1 is relevant to the investigation of a case of a 

2 missing or exploited child. 

3 ‘‘(d) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS; IMPAIRMENT OF

4 INVESTIGATIONS.—The head of the relevant agency shall 

5 not disclose any information with respect to an individual 

6 under this section if the head of the agency determines 

7 and certifies to the court that issued an order under sub8 section (b) that such a disclosure would identify a con9 fidential informant or seriously impair a civil or criminal 

10 investigation.’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions for chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is 

13 amended by adding after the item relating to section 

14 2260A the following: 

‘‘2260B. Disclosure of information relating to a missing or exploited child.’’. 

15 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

16 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Access to Information 

17 About Missing Children Act of 2012’’. 

18 SEC. 2. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION RELATING TO A 

19 MISSING OR EXPLOITED CHILD. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 110 of title 18, United 

21 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘§ 2260B. Disclosure of information relating to a miss23 ing or exploited child 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) DISCLOSURE.—Notwithstanding any other 

2 provision of law and except as provided under sub3 section (c), pursuant to and upon the grant of an ex 

4 parte order by a Federal district court judge or mag5 istrate under subsection (b), the mailing address held 

6 by the Internal Revenue Service with respect to an in7 dividual shall be open (but only to the extent nec8 essary as provided in such order) to inspection by, or 

9 disclosure to, any Federal law enforcement officer— 

10 ‘‘(A) who is personally and directly engaged 

11 in an investigation, judicial or administrative 

12 proceeding, or Federal grand jury proceeding 

13 pertaining to the enforcement of a Federal crimi14 nal statute relating to the case of a missing or 

15 exploited child; or 

16 ‘‘(B) who seeks such an order on behalf of 

17 a State or local law enforcement agency under 

18 subsection (e). 

19 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—A Federal law enforcement 

20 officer who receives information under paragraph (1) 

21 shall not willfully disclose the information to any per22 son not personally and directly engaged in the inves23 tigation or proceeding to which the information re24 lates. Any violation of this paragraph shall be a fel25 ony punishable upon conviction by a fine in any 


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1 amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not 

2 more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of 

3 prosecution. 

4 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION FOR ORDER.—A Federal law en5 forcement officer seeking an ex parte order under this sec6 tion shall submit an application to a Federal district court 

7 judge or magistrate and upon such application, the judge 

8 or magistrate may grant the order if the judge or magistrate 

9 determines on the basis of the facts submitted by the Federal 

10 law enforcement officer that— 

11 ‘‘(1) there is reasonable cause to believe, based 

12 upon information believed to be reliable, that an act 

13 of kidnapping or exploitation of a minor has been 

14 committed; 

15 ‘‘(2) there is reasonable cause to believe that the 

16 information sought is relevant to a matter relating to 

17 the commission of the act; 

18 ‘‘(3) the information is sought exclusively for use 

19 in a criminal investigation or proceeding concerning 

20 the act; 

21 ‘‘(4) the information relates to an individual for 

22 whom there is reasonable cause to believe has com23 mitted the act, conspired to commit the act, or aided 

24 or abetted the act, or for whom there is reasonable 

25 cause to believe has direct knowledge of the act; and 


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1 ‘‘(5) the information sought cannot reasonably be 

2 obtained, under the circumstances, from another 

3 source. 

4 ‘‘(c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec5 tion shall be construed to limit the ability of any Federal 

6 agency to disclose the mailing address of an individual as 

7 authorized under any other provision of law. 

8 ‘‘(d) DISCLOSURE TO STATE AND LOCAL LAW EN9 FORCEMENT AGENCIES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a written request by a 

11 State or local law enforcement agency investigating 

12 the case of a missing or exploited child within the 

13 venue of any Federal district court that contains suf14 ficient information to allow a Federal law enforce15 ment officer to submit an application meeting the re16 quirements of subsection (b), a Federal law enforce17 ment officer— 

18 ‘‘(A) may apply for an ex parte order from 

19 such court under subsection (a)(1)(B) with re20 spect to such case; and 

21 ‘‘(B) may disclose the mailing address of 

22 the individual obtained as a result of such an 

23 order to the State or local law enforcement agen24 cy making such request for the use exclusively in 


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1 a criminal investigation or proceeding con2 cerning a missing or exploited child. 

3 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION.—Any individual employed 

4 by a State or local law enforcement agency that re5 ceives information under paragraph (1)(B) shall not 

6 willfully disclose the information to any other person. 

7 Any violation of this paragraph shall be a felony 

8 punishable upon conviction by a fine in any amount 

9 not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more 

10 than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of pros11 ecution. 

12 ‘‘(e) CONFIDENTIAL INFORMANTS; IMPAIRMENT OF IN13 VESTIGATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury, or the Sec14 retary’s delegate, shall not disclose any information with 

15 respect to an individual under this section if the Secretary 

16 determines and certifies to the court that issued an order 

17 under subsection (b) that such a disclosure would identify 

18 a confidential informant or seriously impair a civil or 

19 criminal investigation.’’. 

20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

21 for chapter 110 of title 18, United States Code, is amended 

22 by adding after the item relating to section 2260A the fol23 lowing: 

‘‘2260B. Disclosure of information relating to a missing or exploited child.’’. 


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Calendar No. 487 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 225 

A BILL 

To permit the disclosure of certain information for 

the purpose of missing child investigations. 

AUGUST 2, 2012 

Reported with an amendment 


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