II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2105 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. SCHUMER, and Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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, 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2105 IS

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as ‘‘Billy’s Law’’ or the ‘‘Help 

3 Find the Missing Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION OF THE NATIONAL MISSING AND 

5 UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM. 

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

7 the Director of the National Institute of Justice, is author8 ized to maintain public databases, known as the ‘‘National 

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

10 to contain missing persons records and unidentified re11 mains cases for purposes of assisting to identify missing 

12 people and solve cases of unidentified human remains. All 

13 functions, personnel, assets, liabilities, and administrative 

14 actions applicable to the National Missing and Unidenti15 fied Persons System carried out by the National Institute 

16 of Justice on the date before the date of the enactment 

17 of this Act shall be transferred to the National Missing 

18 and Unidentified Persons System authorized under this 

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

20 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section not 

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

23 years 2016 through 2021. Notwithstanding any other pro24 vision of law, the total amount of Federal funds made 

25 available for any of the fiscal years 2016 through 2021 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2105 IS

1 to maintain NamUs may not exceed the amount described 

2 in the previous sentence. 

3 SEC. 3. SHARING OF INFORMATION BETWEEN NCIC AND 

4 NAMUS. 

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

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

7 data entry format is updated under subsection (c), the At8 torney General shall, in accordance with this section, pro9 vide for information on missing persons and unidentified 

10 human remains contained in the NCIC database to be 

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

12 NamUs databases and for such information contained in 

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

14 and otherwise shared with the NCIC database. 

15 (b) RULES ON CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

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

17 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen18 eral, in consultation with the Director of the FBI, 

19 shall promulgate rules pursuant to notice and com20 ment that specify the information the Attorney Gen21 eral may provide from the NCIC files to the NamUs 

22 databases for purposes of this Act. Such rules 

23 shall— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2105 IS

1 (A) provide for the protection of confiden2 tial, private, and law enforcement sensitive in3 formation contained in the NCIC files; 

4 (B) be promulgated only after the Director 

5 approves recommendations by the Advisory Pol6 icy Board of the Criminal Justice Information 

7 Services Division of the FBI; 

8 (C) specify the circumstances in which por9 tions of information may be withheld from 

10 transfer, entry, or sharing from the NCIC data11 base to the NamUs databases; and 

12 (D) provide that once an authorized agen13 cy provides an authorization to permit the 

14 transmission, entering, or sharing of informa15 tion (or portions of information) from the 

16 NCIC database to the NamUs databases, such 

17 authorization shall be deemed to apply to any 

18 updates made to such information, unless other19 wise specified by the agency. 

20 (2) ADDITIONAL RULES.—In addition to pro21 mulgating rules under paragraph (1), the Attorney 

22 General, in consultation with the Director of the 

23 FBI, may also promulgate rules to further protect 

24 confidential, private, and law enforcement sensitive 

25 information, such as by creating process to permit 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 2105 IS

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

2 proactively prohibit NamUs from creating a profile 

3 for the individual within the NamUs database if the 

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

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

6 and who is voluntarily missing to request the re7 moval of a published profile of the individual from 

8 the NamUs database. 

9 (3) SUBMISSIONS PRIOR TO ONLINE DATA

10 ENTRY FORMAT UPDATE.—With respect to informa11 tion submitted to the NCIC database before the end 

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

13 Attorney General may solicit from appropriate au14 thorized agencies authorization to transmit, enter, or 

15 share such information. 

16 (c) UPDATES.— 

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

18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen19 eral shall update the online data entry format for 

20 the NCIC database and NamUs databases to pro21 vide State criminal justice agencies, offices of med22 ical examiners, and offices of coroners with the op23 tion to authorize the submission of new information 

24 and data that is reported to and entered into the 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 2105 IS

1 NCIC database to simultaneously be submitted to 

2 and entered into the NamUs databases. 

3 (2) NCIC FORMAT.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the 

5 NCIC database, an update described in para6 graph (1) shall include— 

7 (i) an update to the NCIC database 

8 online data entry format that States use in 

9 submitting missing persons and unidenti10 fied remains reports, including the addition 

11 of a new data field allowing States, on be12 half of the authorized agency that origi13 nally submitted the data, to select whether 

14 or not to have the NCIC report, subject to 

15 the rules promulgated under subsection 

16 (b), shared with the NamUs databases; 

17 and 

18 (ii) subject to subparagraph (B), a re19 quirement that as a condition of partici20 pating in the NCIC database, States must 

21 update their missing persons and unidenti22 fied remains collection processes from local 

23 and tribal law enforcement, medical exam24 iners, and coroners to enable the States to 

25 acquire information on whether or not the 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 2105 IS

1 authorized agencies originally submitting 

2 data with respect to a missing person or 

3 unidentified remains have provided author4 ization to share the information with the 

5 NamUs databases. 

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

7 shall not apply with respect to any State that 

8 has in effect a State law providing for a meth9 odology to authorize the sharing of information 

10 between the NCIC database and NamUs data11 bases. 

12 (d) AMENDMENTS TO TITLE XXXVII OF THE CRIME

13 CONTROL ACT OF 1990 TO REQUIRE REPORTS OF MISS14 ING CHILDREN TO NAMUS.— 

15 (1) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—Section 

16 3701(a) of title XXXVII of the Crime Control Act 

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

18 the period and inserting the following: ‘‘and, con19 sistent with section 3 (including rules promulgated 

20 pursuant to section 3(b)) of the Help Find the Miss21 ing Act, shall also report such case, either directly 

22 or through authorization described in such section to 

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

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

25 such Act).’’. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 2105 IS

1 (2) STATE REQUIREMENTS.—Section 3702 of 

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

3 U.S.C. 5780) is amended— 

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

5 National Crime Information Center computer 

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

7 Information Center computer database, or the 

8 NamUs databases (as defined in section 7 of 

9 the Help Find the Missing Act)’’; 

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

11 National Crime Information Center computer 

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

13 Information Center computer networks, and the 

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

15 (C) in paragraph (4)— 

16 (i) in the matter preceding subpara17 graph (A), by inserting ‘‘or the NamUs 

18 databases’’ after ‘‘National Crime Informa19 tion Center’’; and 

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

21 ‘‘and National Crime Information Center 

22 computer networks’’ and inserting ‘‘, Na23 tional Crime Information Center computer 

24 networks, and the NamUs databases’’. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 2105 IS

1 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

2 by this subsection shall apply with respect to reports 

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

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

5 period described in subsection (a). 

6 (e) AUTHORIZED AGENCIES AUTHORITY TO OVER7 RIDE INFORMATION.—An authorized agency may remove 

8 or override information (or portions of information) from 

9 the NamUs database and the NCIC database, as trans10 ferred from the NamUs database under this Act, if such 

11 information is submitted on behalf of a public user and 

12 such information is deemed by the authorized agency to 

13 be inaccurate. 

14 SEC. 4. INCENTIVE GRANTS PROGRAM. 

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

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

17 shall establish a program to provide grants to qualifying 

18 law enforcement agencies, offices of coroners, offices of 

19 medical examiners, and other authorized agencies to facili20 tate the process of reporting information regarding miss21 ing persons and unidentified remains to the NCIC data22 base and NamUs databases for purposes of assisting in 

23 locating such missing persons and identifying such re24 mains. 

25 (b) REQUIREMENTS.— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
10 

•S 2105 IS

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

2 under this section, a grant recipient shall, with re3 spect to each case reported to the agency or office 

4 of the recipient relating to a missing person de5 scribed in a category under subsection (e) or relating 

6 to unidentified remains— 

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

8 is reported to the agency or office and con9 sistent with subsection (c), submit to the NCIC 

10 database and NamUs databases— 

11 (i) in the case of a missing person de12 scribed in a category under subsection (e), 

13 at least the minimum information de14 scribed in subsection (f)(1); and 

15 (ii) in the case of unidentified re16 mains, at least the minimum information 

17 described in subsection (f)(2); 

18 (B) not later than 60 days after the origi19 nal entry of the report, verify and update any 

20 original report entered into the State law en21 forcement system, the NCIC database, or 

22 NamUs databases after receipt of the grant 

23 with any additional information, including, to 

24 the greatest extent possible— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
11 

•S 2105 IS

1 (i) information on the extent to which 

2 DNA samples are available, including the 

3 availability of such samples submitted to 

4 the National DNA Index System under 

5 subparagraph (C); 

6 (ii) fingerprints, medical and dental 

7 records, and photographs of any distin8 guishing characteristics such as scars, 

9 marks, tattoos, piercings, and other unique 

10 physical characteristics; 

11 (iii) in the case of unidentified re12 mains, photographs or digital images that 

13 may assist in identifying the decedent, in14 cluding fingerprint cards, radiographs, 

15 palmprints, and distinctive features of the 

16 decedent’s personal effects; and 

17 (iv) any other information determined 

18 to be appropriate by the Attorney General; 

19 and 

20 (C) not later than 60 days after the origi21 nal entry of the report, to the greatest extent 

22 possible, submit to the National DNA Index 

23 System of the FBI, established pursuant to sec24 tion 210304 of the Violent Crime Control and 

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


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
12 

•S 2105 IS

1 14132), either directly or through use of 

2 NamUs victims assistance resources and DNA 

3 collection services, DNA samples and informa4 tion relating to such case. 

5 (2) SHARING OF INFORMATION.—For purposes 

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

7 grant recipient authorizes to be transferred, entered, 

8 or shared under section 3 between the NCIC data9 base and NamUs databases, any update to such in10 formation shall be simultaneously made with respect 

11 to both databases unless specified otherwise by the 

12 recipient. 

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

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

15 submit information required under such subsection— 

16 (1) separately to the NCIC database and 

17 NamUs databases; or 

18 (2) in accordance with section 3, simultaneously 

19 to the NamUs databases when reporting to the 

20 NCIC database or to the NCIC database when re21 porting to the NamUs databases. 

22 (d) PERMISSIBLE USE OF FUNDS.— 

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

24 grants awarded under this section include the use of 

25 funds— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
13 

•S 2105 IS

1 (A) to hire additional personnel, to acquire 

2 technology to facilitate timely data entry into 

3 the relevant databases; 

4 (B) to conduct contracting activities rel5 evant to outsourcing the processing of unidenti6 fied remains and the reporting of the resulting 

7 information to the NCIC database and NamUs 

8 databases; 

9 (C) to train local law enforcement per10 sonnel, medical examiners, and coroners to use 

11 the NCIC database and NamUs databases; 

12 (D) to assist States’ transition into the 

13 new system under which information is shared 

14 between the NCIC database and NamUs data15 bases; and 

16 (E) for other purposes consistent with the 

17 goals of this section. 

18 (2) CLARIFICATION.—In no case may a recipi19 ent of a grant under this section use funds to enter 

20 or help facilitate the entrance of any false or mis21 leading information about missing persons or un22 identified remains. 

23 (e) CATEGORIES OF MISSING PERSONS.—The cat24 egories of missing persons described in this subsection are 

25 the following: 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
14 

•S 2105 IS

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

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

3 mental or physical disability, as documented by 

4 a source deemed credible to an appropriate law 

5 enforcement entity; or 

6 (B) is missing under circumstances that 

7 indicate, as determined by an appropriate law 

8 enforcement entity— 

9 (i) that the person’s physical safety 

10 may be endangered; 

11 (ii) that the disappearance may not 

12 have been voluntary, such as abduction or 

13 kidnapping; or 

14 (iii) that the disappearance may have 

15 been caused by a natural disaster or catas16 trophe (such as an airplane crash or ter17 rorist attack). 

18 (2) A missing person who does not meet the cri19 teria described in paragraph (1) but who meets one 

20 of the following criteria: 

21 (A) There is a reasonable concern, as de22 termined by an appropriate law enforcement en23 tity, for the safety of the missing person. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
15 

•S 2105 IS

1 (B) The person is under age 21 and eman2 cipated under the laws of the person’s State of 

3 residence. 

4 (f) MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED.— 

5 (1) CONTENT FOR MISSING PERSONS.—The 

6 minimum information described in this section, with 

7 respect to a missing person, is the following: 

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

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

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

11 (B) The date and location of the last 

12 known contact with the missing person. 

13 (C) The category described in subsection 

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

15 (2) CONTENT FOR UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN RE16 MAINS.—The minimum information described in this 

17 section, with respect to unidentified human remains, 

18 is the following: 

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

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

21 (B) Any distinguishing characteristics such 

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

23 unique physical characteristics. 

24 (C) A description of clothing found on the 

25 decedent. 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
16 

•S 2105 IS

1 (D) City and State where the unidentified 

2 human remains were found. 

3 (E) Information on how to contact the law 

4 enforcement agency handling the investigation 

5 and the unidentified human remains. 

6 (F) Information on the extent to which 

7 DNA samples are available, including the avail8 ability of such samples submitted to the Na9 tional DNA Index System under subsection 

10 (b)(1)(C). 

11 (g) ADMINISTRATION.—The Attorney General shall 

12 prescribe requirements, including with respect to applica13 tions, for grants awarded under this section and shall de14 termine the amount of each such grant. 

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

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

17 that information reported under the grant meets the re18 quirements promulgated by the Attorney General under 

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

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

21 2013 through 2016, the Attorney General shall publish 

22 an annual statistical summary of the reports required by 

23 subsection (c). 

24 (j) QUALIFYING LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY DE25 FINED.—For purposes of this Act, the term ‘‘qualifying 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
17 

•S 2105 IS

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

2 law enforcement agency. 

3 (k) FUNDING.— 

4 (1) MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—The Attorney 

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

6 unless the applicant involved agrees, with respect to 

7 the costs to be incurred by the applicant in carrying 

8 out the purposes described in this section, to make 

9 available non-Federal contributions (in cash or in 

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

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

12 in the grant. 

13 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

14 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

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

16 2016 through 2020. 

17 SEC. 5. REPORT ON BEST PRACTICES. 

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

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

20 offices of medical examiners, offices of coroners, and Fed21 eral, State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies de22 scribing the best practices for the collection, reporting, 

23 and analysis of data and information on missing persons 

24 and unidentified human remains. Such best practices 

25 shall— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
18 

•S 2105 IS

1 (1) provide an overview of the NCIC database 

2 and NamUs databases; 

3 (2) describe how local law enforcement agen4 cies, offices of medical examiners, and offices of 

5 coroners should access and use the NCIC database 

6 and NamUs databases; 

7 (3) describe the appropriate and inappropriate 

8 uses of the NCIC database and NamUs databases; 

9 and 

10 (4) describe the standards and protocols for the 

11 collection, reporting, and analysis of data and infor12 mation on missing persons and unidentified human 

13 remains. 

14 SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 

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

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

17 the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on 

18 the Judiciary of the House of Representatives and the 

19 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate a report de20 scribing the status of the NCIC database and NamUs 

21 databases. 

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

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

24 on— 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
19 

•S 2105 IS

1 (1) the process of information sharing between 

2 the NCIC database and NamUs databases; and 

3 (2) the programs funded by grants awarded 

4 under section 4. 

5 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

6 For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions 

7 apply: 

8 (1) AUTHORIZED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘author9 ized agency’’ means a Government agency with an 

10 originating agency identification (ORI) number and 

11 that is a criminal justice agency, as defined for pur12 poses of subpart A of part 20 of title 28, Code of 

13 Federal Regulations. 

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

15 Bureau of Investigation. 

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

17 databases’’ means the National Missing and Uniden18 tified Persons System Missing Persons database and 

19 National Missing and Unidentified Persons System 

20 Unidentified Decedents database maintained by the 

21 National Institute of Justice of the Department of 

22 Justice. 

23 (4) NCIC DATABASE.—The term ‘‘NCIC data24 base’’ means the National Crime Information Center 

25 Missing Person File and National Crime InformaVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Oct 02, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2105.IS S2105

smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
20 

•S 2105 IS

1 tion Center Unidentified Person File of the National 

2 Crime Information Center database of the FBI, es3 tablished pursuant to section 534 of title 28, United 

4 States Code. 

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

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

7 the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Is8 lands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Common9 wealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. 

Æ 


smartinez on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with BILLS