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General Assembly Committee Bill No. 778
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5056
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A GREEN ALERT SYSTEM FOR MIS SING
VETERANS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) As used in this 1
section: 2
(1) "Missing veteran" means any person who is reported to, or 3
identified by, a law enforcement agency as a missing person and is a 4
veteran. 5
(2) "Veteran" means any person who served in the armed forces, as 6
defined in subsection (a) of section 27-103 of the general statutes. 7
(3) "Green Alert" means an alert issued through the Green Alert 8
communications network, as established in subsection (b) of this 9
section. 10
(b) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection 11
shall, within available appropriations, establish and administer a 12
communications network, to be known as the Green Alert 13
communications network, to provide assistance to the search efforts of 14
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a state or local law enforcement agency for any missing veteran. 15
(c) (1) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public 16
Protection shall designate an employee of the Department of 17
Emergency Services and Public Protection to act as the coordinator of 18
the Green Alert communications network. 19
(2) The coordinator of the Green Alert communications network 20
shall develop proposed protocols for efforts to recover missing 21
veterans and to reduce the number of veterans who are reported 22
missing, including protocols for procedures that are needed from the 23
time of initial notification of a law enforcement agency that the veteran 24
is missing through the time of the return of the veteran to his or her 25
family or conservator. 26
(d) Not later than October 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, the 27
coordinator of the Green Alert communications network shall submit 28
to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having 29
cognizance of matters relating to military and veterans' affairs and the 30
joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance 31
of matters relating to public safety, in accordance with the provisions 32
of section 11-4a of the general statutes, a report on the activities of the 33
coordinator, the number of Green Alerts issued, the number of 34
individuals located successfully, the average period of time between 35
the issuance of a Green Alert and the location of the individual for 36
whom such alert was issued and any other information that the 37
coordinator deems appropriate. 38
(e) (1) The Department of Emergency Services an d Public 39
Protection, in consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs 40
and the Military Department, shall adopt regulations in accordance 41
with the provisions of chapter 54 to establish minimum standards for 42
(A) the issuance of alerts through the Green Alert communications 43
network, and (B) the extent of the dissemination of alerts issued 44
through the network. 45
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(2) (A) The minimum standards shall provide that appropriate 46
information relating to the special needs of a missing veteran, 47
including health care needs, are disseminated to the appropriate state 48
or local law enforcement agency. 49
(B) The minimum standards shall provide that the dissemination of 50
an alert through the Green Alert communications network be limited 51
to the geographic areas that the missing veteran could reasonably 52
reach, considering the missing veteran's circumstances and physical 53
and mental condition, the modes of transportation available to the 54
missing veteran and the circumstances of the disappearance. 55
(C) The minimum standards shall ensure that alerts issued through 56
the Green Alert communications network comply with all applicable 57
federal, state and local privacy laws and regulations. 58
(D) The minimum standards shall include standards that 59
specifically provide for the protection of the civil liberties and sensitive 60
medical information of missing veterans. 61
Sec. 2. Section 7-282c of the general statutes is repealed and the 62
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 63
Any municipal police department which receives a report of (1) a 64
missing child or missing youth under eighteen years of age, [or] (2) a 65
missing person who is eligible for assistance under subsection (a) of 66
section 29-1f, as amended by this act, or (3) a missing veteran, as 67
defined in subsection (a) of section 1 of this act, shall immediately 68
accept such report for filing and inform all on-duty police officers of 69
the existence of the missing child, missing youth, [or] missing person 70
or missing veteran report and communicate the report to other 71
appropriate law enforcement agencies. 72
Sec. 3. Section 29-1f of the general statutes is repealed and the 73
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 74
(a) The clearinghouse established under section 29-1e shall collect, 75
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process, maintain and disseminate information to assist in the location 76
of any missing person who (1) is eighteen years of age or older and has 77
a mental impairment, [or] (2) is sixty-five years of age or older, or (3) is 78
a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of section 1 of this act, provided 79
a missing person report prepared by the Department of Emergency 80
Services and Public Protection has been filed by such missing person's 81
relative, guardian, conservator or agent appointed by the missing 82
person in accordance with sections 1-350 to 1-353b, inclusive, any 83
health care representative appointed by the missing person in 84
accordance with section 19a-576 or a nursing home administrator, as 85
defined in section 19a-511, or, pursuant to section 17a-465b, by an 86
employee of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services 87
who is certified under the provisions of sections 7-294a to 7-294e, 88
inclusive. Such relative, guardian, conservator, agent, health care 89
representative, nursing home administrator or employee shall attest 90
under penalty of perjury that the missing person (A) is eighteen years 91
of age or older and has a mental impairment, [or] (B) is sixty-five years 92
of age or older, or (C) is a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of 93
section 1 of this act. No other proof shall be required in order to verify 94
that the missing person meets the criteria to be eligible for assistance 95
under this subsection. Such relative, guardian, conservator, agent, 96
health care representative, nursing home administrator or employee 97
who files a missing person report shall immediately notify the 98
clearinghouse or law enforcement agency if the missing person's 99
location has been determined. 100
(b) Subject to available resources, the clearinghouse established by 101
section 29-1e may collect, process, maintain and disseminate 102
information to assist in the location of missing persons other than 103
children and those persons who are eligible for assistance under 104
subsection (a) of this section. 105
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
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Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 7-282c
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 29-1f
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a green alert system for locating missing veterans.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]
Co-Sponsors: SEN. BERTHEL, 32nd Dist.; SEN. SAMPSON, 16th Dist.
SEN. KISSEL, 7th Dist.; REP. ZAWISTOWSKI, 61st Dist.
S.B. 778