I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3653 

To authorize funding for, and increase accessibility to, the National Missing 

and Unidentified Persons System, to facilitate data sharing between 

such system and the National Crime Information Center database of 

the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to provide incentive grants to help 

facilitate reporting to such systems, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 

Mr. POE of Texas (for himself and Ms. ESTY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To authorize funding for, and increase accessibility to, the 

National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, to 

facilitate data sharing between such system and the National Crime Information Center database of the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation, to provide incentive grants to 

help facilitate reporting to such systems, 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 ‘‘Billy’s Law’’ or the ‘‘Help 

5 Find the Missing Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL MISSING AND 

2 UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, through 

4 the Director of the National Institute of Justice, is author5 ized to maintain public databases, known as the ‘‘National 

6 Missing and Unidentified Persons System’’ or ‘‘NamUs’’, 

7 to contain missing persons records and unidentified re8 mains cases for purposes of assisting to identify missing 

9 people and solve cases of unidentified human remains. All 

10 functions, personnel, assets, liabilities, and administrative 

11 actions applicable to the National Missing and Unidenti12 fied Persons System carried out by the National Institute 

13 of Justice on the date before the date of the enactment 

14 of this Act shall be transferred to the National Missing 

15 and Unidentified Persons System authorized under this 

16 section as of the date of the enactment of this Act. 

17 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section not 

19 more than a total of $2,400,000 for each of the fiscal 

20 years 2016 through 2021. Notwithstanding any other pro21 vision of law, the total amount of Federal funds made 

22 available for any of the fiscal years 2016 through 2021 

23 to maintain NamUs may not exceed the amount described 

24 in the previous sentence. 


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1 SEC. 3. SHARING OF INFORMATION BETWEEN NCIC AND 

2 NAMUS. 

3 (a) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—Not later than the 

4 end of the 30-day period beginning on the date the online 

5 data entry format is updated under subsection (c), the At6 torney General shall, in accordance with this section, pro7 vide for information on missing persons and unidentified 

8 human remains contained in the NCIC database to be 

9 transmitted to, entered in, and otherwise shared with the 

10 NamUs databases and for such information contained in 

11 the NamUs databases to be transmitted to, entered in, 

12 and otherwise shared with the NCIC database. 

13 (b) RULES ON CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

15 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen16 eral, in consultation with the Director of the FBI, 

17 shall promulgate rules pursuant to notice and com18 ment that specify the information the Attorney Gen19 eral may provide from the NCIC files to the NamUs 

20 databases for purposes of this Act. Such rules 

21 shall— 

22 (A) provide for the protection of confiden23 tial, private, and law enforcement sensitive in24 formation contained in the NCIC files; 

25 (B) be promulgated only after the Director 

26 approves recommendations by the Advisory PolVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Oct 02, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3653.IH H3653

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1 icy Board of the Criminal Justice Information 

2 Services Division of the FBI; 

3 (C) specify the circumstances in which por4 tions of information may be withheld from 

5 transfer, entry, or sharing from the NCIC data6 base to the NamUs databases; and 

7 (D) provide that once an authorized agen8 cy provides an authorization to permit the 

9 transmission, entering, or sharing of informa10 tion (or portions of information) from the 

11 NCIC database to the NamUs databases, such 

12 authorization shall be deemed to apply to any 

13 updates made to such information, unless other14 wise specified by the agency. 

15 (2) ADDITIONAL RULES.—In addition to pro16 mulgating rules under paragraph (1), the Attorney 

17 General, in consultation with the Director of the 

18 FBI, may also promulgate rules to further protect 

19 confidential, private, and law enforcement sensitive 

20 information, such as by creating process to permit 

21 an individual who is 21 years of age or older to 

22 proactively prohibit NamUs from creating a profile 

23 for the individual within the NamUs database if the 

24 individual were to go missing in the future, and to 

25 permit an individual who is 21 years of age or older 


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1 and who is voluntarily missing to request the re2 moval of a published profile of the individual from 

3 the NamUs database. 

4 (3) SUBMISSIONS PRIOR TO ONLINE DATA

5 ENTRY FORMAT UPDATE.—With respect to informa6 tion submitted to the NCIC database before the end 

7 of the 30-day period described in subsection (a), the 

8 Attorney General may solicit from appropriate au9 thorized agencies authorization to transmit, enter, or 

10 share such information. 

11 (c) UPDATES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen14 eral shall update the online data entry format for 

15 the NCIC database and NamUs databases to pro16 vide State criminal justice agencies, offices of med17 ical examiners, and offices of coroners with the op18 tion to authorize the submission of new information 

19 and data that is reported to and entered into the 

20 NCIC database to simultaneously be submitted to 

21 and entered into the NamUs databases. 

22 (2) NCIC FORMAT.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the 

24 NCIC database, an update described in para25 graph (1) shall include— 


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1 (i) an update to the NCIC database 

2 online data entry format that States use in 

3 submitting missing persons and unidenti4 fied remains reports, including the addition 

5 of a new data field allowing States, on be6 half of the authorized agency that origi7 nally submitted the data, to select whether 

8 or not to have the NCIC report, subject to 

9 the rules promulgated under subsection 

10 (b), shared with the NamUs databases; 

11 and 

12 (ii) subject to subparagraph (B), a re13 quirement that as a condition of partici14 pating in the NCIC database, States must 

15 update their missing persons and unidenti16 fied remains collection processes from local 

17 and tribal law enforcement, medical exam18 iners, and coroners to enable the States to 

19 acquire information on whether or not the 

20 authorized agencies originally submitting 

21 data with respect to a missing person or 

22 unidentified remains have provided author23 ization to share the information with the 

24 NamUs databases. 


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1 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subparagraph (A)(ii) 

2 shall not apply with respect to any State that 

3 has in effect a State law providing for a meth4 odology to authorize the sharing of information 

5 between the NCIC database and NamUs data6 bases. 

7 (d) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE XXXVII OF THE CRIME

8 CONTROL ACT OF 1990 TO REQUIRE REPORTS OF MISS9 ING CHILDREN TO NAMUS.— 

10 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 

11 3701(a) of title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act 

12 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 5779(a)) is amended by striking 

13 the period and inserting the following: ‘‘and, con14 sistent with section 3 (including rules promulgated 

15 pursuant to section 3(b)) of the Help Find the Miss16 ing Act, shall also report such case, either directly 

17 or through authorization described in such section to 

18 transmit, enter, or share information on such case, 

19 to the NamUs databases (as defined in section 7 of 

20 such Act).’’. 

21 (2) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 3702 of 

22 title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act of 1990 (42 

23 U.S.C. 5780) is amended— 

24 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘or the 

25 National Crime Information Center computer 


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1 database’’ and inserting ‘‘, the National Crime 

2 Information Center computer database, or the 

3 NamUs databases (as defined in section 7 of 

4 the Help Find the Missing Act)’’; 

5 (B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘and the 

6 National Crime Information Center computer 

7 networks’’ and inserting ‘‘, the National Crime 

8 Information Center computer networks, and the 

9 NamUs databases (as so defined)’’; and 

10 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

11 (i) in the matter preceding subpara12 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or the NamUs 

13 databases’’ after ‘‘National Crime Informa14 tion Center’’; and 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

16 ‘‘and National Crime Information Center 

17 computer networks’’ and inserting ‘‘, Na18 tional Crime Information Center computer 

19 networks, and the NamUs databases’’. 

20 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

21 by this subsection shall apply with respect to reports 

22 made before, on, or after the date of the enactment 

23 of this Act beginning on the last day of the 30-day 

24 period described in subsection (a). 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZED AGENCIES AUTHORITY TO OVER2 RIDE INFORMATION.—An authorized agency may remove 

3 or override information (or portions of information) from 

4 the NamUs database and the NCIC database, as trans5 ferred from the NamUs database under this Act, if such 

6 information is submitted on behalf of a public user and 

7 such information is deemed by the authorized agency to 

8 be inaccurate. 

9 SEC. 4. INCENTIVE GRANTS PROGRAM. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

11 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General 

12 shall establish a program to provide grants to qualifying 

13 law enforcement agencies, offices of coroners, offices of 

14 medical examiners, and other authorized agencies to facili15 tate the process of reporting information regarding miss16 ing persons and unidentified remains to the NCIC data17 base and NamUs databases for purposes of assisting in 

18 locating such missing persons and identifying such re19 mains. 

20 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—As a condition of a grant 

22 under this section, a grant recipient shall, with re23 spect to each case reported to the agency or office 

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1 scribed in a category under subsection (e) or relating 

2 to unidentified remains— 

3 (A) not later than 72 hours after such case 

4 is reported to the agency or office and con5 sistent with subsection (c), submit to the NCIC 

6 database and NamUs databases— 

7 (i) in the case of a missing person de8 scribed in a category under subsection (e), 

9 at least the minimum information de10 scribed in subsection (f)(1); and 

11 (ii) in the case of unidentified re12 mains, at least the minimum information 

13 described in subsection (f)(2); 

14 (B) not later than 60 days after the origi15 nal entry of the report, verify and update any 

16 original report entered into the State law en17 forcement system, the NCIC database, or 

18 NamUs databases after receipt of the grant 

19 with any additional information, including, to 

20 the greatest extent possible— 

21 (i) information on the extent to which 

22 DNA samples are available, including the 

23 availability of such samples submitted to 

24 the National DNA Index System under 

25 subparagraph (C); 


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1 (ii) fingerprints, medical and dental 

2 records, and photographs of any distin3 guishing characteristics such as scars, 

4 marks, tattoos, piercings, and other unique 

5 physical characteristics; 

6 (iii) in the case of unidentified re7 mains, photographs or digital images that 

8 may assist in identifying the decedent, in9 cluding fingerprint cards, radiographs, 

10 palmprints, and distinctive features of the 

11 decedent’s personal effects; and 

12 (iv) any other information determined 

13 to be appropriate by the Attorney General; 

14 and 

15 (C) not later than 60 days after the origi16 nal entry of the report, to the greatest extent 

17 possible, submit to the National DNA Index 

18 System of the FBI, established pursuant to sec19 tion 210304 of the Violent Crime Control and 

20 Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 

21 14132), either directly or through use of 

22 NamUs victims assistance resources and DNA 

23 collection services, DNA samples and informa24 tion relating to such case. 


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1 (2) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—For purposes 

2 of subparagraph (B), in the case of information a 

3 grant recipient authorizes to be transferred, entered, 

4 or shared under section 3 between the NCIC data5 base and NamUs databases, any update to such in6 formation shall be simultaneously made with respect 

7 to both databases unless specified otherwise by the 

8 recipient. 

9 (c) SUBMISSION OF REPORTS.—To satisfy subsection 

10 (b)(1)(A), a recipient of a grant under this section shall 

11 submit information required under such subsection— 

12 (1) separately to the NCIC database and 

13 NamUs databases; or 

14 (2) in accordance with section 3, simultaneously 

15 to the NamUs databases when reporting to the 

16 NCIC database or to the NCIC database when re17 porting to the NamUs databases. 

18 (d) PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The permissible uses of 

20 grants awarded under this section include the use of 

21 funds— 

22 (A) to hire additional personnel, to acquire 

23 technology to facilitate timely data entry into 

24 the relevant databases; 


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1 (B) to conduct contracting activities rel2 evant to outsourcing the processing of unidenti3 fied remains and the reporting of the resulting 

4 information to the NCIC database and NamUs 

5 databases; 

6 (C) to train local law enforcement per7 sonnel, medical examiners, and coroners to use 

8 the NCIC database and NamUs databases; 

9 (D) to assist States’ transition into the 

10 new system under which information is shared 

11 between the NCIC database and NamUs data12 bases; and 

13 (E) for other purposes consistent with the 

14 goals of this section. 

15 (2) CLARIFICATION.—In no case may a recipi16 ent of a grant under this section use funds to enter 

17 or help facilitate the entrance of any false or mis18 leading information about missing persons or un19 identified remains. 

20 (e) CATEGORIES OF MISSING PERSONS.—The cat21 egories of missing persons described in this subsection are 

22 the following: 

23 (1) A missing person age 21 or older who— 

24 (A) is senile or is suffering from a proven 

25 mental or physical disability, as documented by 


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1 a source deemed credible to an appropriate law 

2 enforcement entity; or 

3 (B) is missing under circumstances that 

4 indicate, as determined by an appropriate law 

5 enforcement entity— 

6 (i) that the person’s physical safety 

7 may be endangered; 

8 (ii) that the disappearance may not 

9 have been voluntary, such as abduction or 

10 kidnapping; or 

11 (iii) that the disappearance may have 

12 been caused by a natural disaster or catas13 trophe (such as an airplane crash or ter14 rorist attack). 

15 (2) A missing person who does not meet the cri16 teria described in paragraph (1) but who meets one 

17 of the following criteria: 

18 (A) There is a reasonable concern, as de19 termined by an appropriate law enforcement en20 tity, for the safety of the missing person. 

21 (B) The person is under age 21 and eman22 cipated under the laws of the person’s State of 

23 residence. 

24 (f) MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED.— 


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1 (1) CONTENT FOR MISSING PERSONS.—The 

2 minimum information described in this section, with 

3 respect to a missing person, is the following: 

4 (A) The name, date of birth, city and 

5 State of residence, gender, race, height, weight, 

6 eye color, and hair color of the missing person. 

7 (B) The date and location of the last 

8 known contact with the missing person. 

9 (C) The category described in subsection 

10 (e) in which the missing person is classified. 

11 (2) CONTENT FOR UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN RE12 MAINS.—The minimum information described in this 

13 section, with respect to unidentified human remains, 

14 is the following: 

15 (A) The estimated age, gender, race, 

16 height, weight, hair color, and eye color. 

17 (B) Any distinguishing characteristics such 

18 as scars, marks, tattoos, piercings, and other 

19 unique physical characteristics. 

20 (C) A description of clothing found on the 

21 decedent. 

22 (D) City and State where the unidentified 

23 human remains were found. 


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1 (E) Information on how to contact the law 

2 enforcement agency handling the investigation 

3 and the unidentified human remains. 

4 (F) Information on the extent to which 

5 DNA samples are available, including the avail6 ability of such samples submitted to the Na7 tional DNA Index System under subsection 

8 (b)(1)(C). 

9 (g) ADMINISTRATION.—The Attorney General shall 

10 prescribe requirements, including with respect to applica11 tions, for grants awarded under this section and shall de12 termine the amount of each such grant. 

13 (h) CONFIDENTIALITY.—As a condition of a grant 

14 under this section, the recipient of the grant shall ensure 

15 that information reported under the grant meets the re16 quirements promulgated by the Attorney General under 

17 section 3(b)(1)(A). 

18 (i) ANNUAL SUMMARY.—For each of the fiscal years 

19 2013 through 2016, the Attorney General shall publish 

20 an annual statistical summary of the reports required by 

21 subsection (c). 

22 (j) QUALIFYING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY DE23 FINED.—For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘qualifying 

24 law enforcement agency’’ means a State, local, or tribal 

25 law enforcement agency. 


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1 (k) FUNDING.— 

2 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Attorney 

3 General may not make a grant under subsection (a) 

4 unless the applicant involved agrees, with respect to 

5 the costs to be incurred by the applicant in carrying 

6 out the purposes described in this section, to make 

7 available non-Federal contributions (in cash or in 

8 kind) toward such costs in an amount equal to not 

9 less than $1 for each $2 of Federal funds provided 

10 in the grant. 

11 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

13 this section $8,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

14 2016 through 2020. 

15 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES. 

16 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act, the Attorney General shall issue a report to 

18 offices of medical examiners, offices of coroners, and Fed19 eral, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies de20 scribing the best practices for the collection, reporting, 

21 and analysis of data and information on missing persons 

22 and unidentified human remains. Such best practices 

23 shall— 

24 (1) provide an overview of the NCIC database 

25 and NamUs databases; 


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1 (2) describe how local law enforcement agen2 cies, offices of medical examiners, and offices of 

3 coroners should access and use the NCIC database 

4 and NamUs databases; 

5 (3) describe the appropriate and inappropriate 

6 uses of the NCIC database and NamUs databases; 

7 and 

8 (4) describe the standards and protocols for the 

9 collection, reporting, and analysis of data and infor10 mation on missing persons and unidentified human 

11 remains. 

12 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act and biennially thereafter, 

15 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on 

16 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 

17 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report de18 scribing the status of the NCIC database and NamUs 

19 databases. 

20 (b) CONTENTS.—The report required by subsection 

21 (a) shall describe, to the extent available, information 

22 on— 

23 (1) the process of information sharing between 

24 the NCIC database and NamUs databases; and 


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1 (2) the programs funded by grants awarded 

2 under section 4. 

3 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

4 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

5 apply: 

6 (1) AUTHORIZED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘author7 ized agency’’ means a Government agency with an 

8 originating agency identification (ORI) number and 

9 that is a criminal justice agency, as defined for pur10 poses of subpart A of part 20 of title 28, Code of 

11 Federal Regulations. 

12 (2) FBI.—The term ‘‘FBI’’ means the Federal 

13 Bureau of Investigation. 

14 (3) NAMUS DATABASES.—The term ‘‘NamUs 

15 databases’’ means the National Missing and Uniden16 tified Persons System Missing Persons database and 

17 National Missing and Unidentified Persons System 

18 Unidentified Decedents database maintained by the 

19 National Institute of Justice of the Department of 

20 Justice. 

21 (4) NCIC DATABASE.—The term ‘‘NCIC data22 base’’ means the National Crime Information Center 

23 Missing Person File and National Crime Informa24 tion Center Unidentified Person File of the National 

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1 tablished pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United 

2 States Code. 

3 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any 

4 State of the United States, the District of Columbia, 

5 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is6 lands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Common7 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Æ 


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