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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 778
January Session, 2019
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A GREEN ALERT SYSTEM FOR MISSING
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 a state or local law 14
enforcement agency searching 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 Substitute Bill No. 778
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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 committees of the General Assembly having 29
cognizance of matters relating to military and veterans' affairs and 30
public safety, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the 31
general statutes, a report on the activities of the coordinator, the 32
number of Green Alerts issued, the number of individuals located 33
successfully, the average period of time between the issuance of a 34
Green Alert and the location of the individual for whom such alert was 35
issued and any other information that the coordinator deems 36
appropriate. 37
(e) (1) The Department of Emergency Services and Public 38
Protection, in consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs 39
and the Military Department, shall adopt regulations in accordance 40
with the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to establish 41
minimum standards for (A) the issuance of alerts through the Green 42
Alert communications network, and (B) the extent of the dissemination 43
of alerts issued through the network. 44
(2) The minimum standards shall provide that: 45
(A) Appropriate information relating to the special needs of a 46
missing veteran, including health care needs, are disseminated to the 47
appropriate state or local law enforcement agency; 48
(B) Dissemination of an alert through the Green Alert 49 Substitute Bill No. 778
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communications network be limited to the geographic areas that the 50
missing veteran could reasonably reach, considering the missing 51
veteran's circumstances and physical and mental condition, the modes 52
of transportation available to the missing veteran and the 53
circumstances of the disappearance; 54
(C) Alerts issued through the Green Alert communications network 55
comply with all applicable federal, state and local privacy laws and 56
regulations; and 57
(D) Civil liberties and sensitive medical information of missing 58
veterans are protected. 59
Sec. 2. Section 7-282c of the general statutes is repealed and the 60
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 61
Any municipal police department which receives a report of (1) a 62
missing child or missing youth under eighteen years of age, [or] (2) a 63
missing person who is eligible for assistance under subsection (a) of 64
section 29-1f, as amended by this act, or (3) a missing veteran, as 65
defined in subsection (a) of section 1 of this act, shall immediately 66
accept such report for filing and inform all on-duty police officers of 67
the existence of the missing child, missing youth, [or] missing person 68
or missing veteran report and communicate the report to other 69
appropriate law enforcement agencies. 70
Sec. 3. Section 29-1f of the general statutes is repealed and the 71
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 72
(a) The clearinghouse established under section 29-1e shall collect, 73
process, maintain and disseminate information to assist in the location 74
of any missing person who (1) is eighteen years of age or older and has 75
a mental impairment, [or] (2) is sixty-five years of age or older, or (3) is 76
a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of section 1 of this act, provided 77
a missing person report prepared by the Department of Emergency 78
Services and Public Protection has been filed by such missing person's 79
relative, guardian, conservator or agent appointed by the missing 80 Substitute Bill No. 778
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person in accordance with sections 1-350 to 1-353b, inclusive, any 81
health care representative appointed by the missing person in 82
accordance with section 19a-576 or a nursing home administrator, as 83
defined in section 19a-511, or, pursuant to section 17a-465b, by an 84
employee of the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services 85
who is certified under the provisions of sections 7-294a to 7-294e, 86
inclusive. Such relative, guardian, conservator, agent, health care 87
representative, nursing home administrator or employee shall attest 88
under penalty of perjury that the missing person (A) is eighteen years 89
of age or older and has a mental impairment, [or] (B) is sixty-five years 90
of age or older, or (C) is a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of 91
section 1 of this act. No other proof shall be required in order to verify 92
that the missing person meets the criteria to be eligible for assistance 93
under this subsection. Such relative, guardian, conservator, agent, 94
health care representative, nursing home administrator or employee 95
who files a missing person report shall immediately notify the 96
clearinghouse or law enforcement agency if the missing person's 97
location has been determined. 98
(b) Subject to available resources, the clearinghouse established by 99
section 29-1e may collect, process, maintain and disseminate 100
information to assist in the location of missing persons other than 101
children and those persons who are eligible for assistance under 102
subsection (a) of this section. 103
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019 7-282c
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 29-1f
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1, Subsec. (e)(2) was rewritten for clarity.
VA Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO