Legislative Mandates and Challenges

[Timothy Williams]

As part of our Runaway Intervention Working Group, our Legislative Action Committee is working to identify legislative challenges or opportunities to improve law enforcement’s ability to work missing person investigations. Two questions below were posed in our recent meeting that I am looking for input on. Thanks in advance.

1: Do any states have legislation that specifically addresses the ability to obtain search warrants/issue subpoenas for cell records, social media etc. in general missing person cases where there hasn’t been any criminality established?

2) Do any states have legislation that mandates law enforcement agencies publicize their missing person statistics on a public platform?

[James Holmes]

Hi Tim- This is what we have in Wisconsin:

Wisconsin State Statute 968.375(13): Disclosure without subpoena or warrant. A provider of electronic communication or remote computing service may disclose records or information described under sub. (2) (a) of a customer or subscriber or the content of communications of a customer or subscriber described under sub. (3) without a subpoena or warrant if any of the following applies:
(a) The customer or subscriber provides consent for the particular disclosure.
(b) The provider of electronic communication or remote computing service believes in good faith that an emergency involving the danger of death or serious physical injury to any person exists and that disclosure of the information is required to prevent the death or injury or to mitigate the injury.

As is the case in many missing persons cases, we do not necessarily know if it is a criminal matter or not, but as we know, when a child is missing, there should be a general belief that they are in danger until we can prove otherwise, whether they are a runaway child or not.

[Timothy Williams]

Thanks James, we are hearing from the field that more and more DA’s are unwilling to issue search warrants or subpoenas for cell/social in general missing child cases after the initial few days for lack of exigency. To your point, we don’t agree and are trying to push a change in mindset. Thanks for the input.

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