Kentucky Statutes 39F.180 – Reports of search and rescue missionsmissing, lost, or overdue persons — Reports of search and rescue missions — — Golden Alert D — Golden Alert — Green Alert —- Administrative regulations on standard operating proc…
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(1) All 911 centers and dispatch centers, law enforcement agencies, law enforcement dispatchers, fire departments, rescue squads, emergency medical service agencies, and emergency management agencies shall report the information required to be reported by administrative regulation, for all reports of persons missing, lost, or overdue, if a search for the lost person has lasted for more than two (2) hours to:
(a) The local emergency management director; and
(b) The local search and rescue coordinator for the jurisdiction in which the person is reported missing.
(2) (a) Any missing person report for a missing minor, as that term is defined in KRS
2.015, shall be immediately reported to the Department of Kentucky State
Police by the person or organization to whom the missing minor is reported.
(b) A missing person report for an impaired person as defined in KRS
39F.010(3)(a) shall immediately be reported as a Golden Alert D to the local emergency management director, local search and rescue coordinator if different from the local emergency manager, local media outlets, and the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by the person managing the search or by the organization conducting the search, in a manner to be established by county policy.
(c) A missing person report for an impaired person as defined in KRS
39F.010(3)(b) shall immediately be reported as a Golden Alert to the local emergency management director, local search and rescue coordinator if different from the local emergency manager, local media outlets, and the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by the person managing the search or by the organization conducting the search. The provisions of this section do not apply to any licensed long-term health care provider conducting a search for a missing resident until the provider requests a search by a person or organization specified in subsection (1) of this section.
(d) A missing person report for a veteran at risk shall immediately be reported as a Green Alert to the local emergency management director, local search and rescue coordinator if different from the local emergency management manager, local media outlets, and the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by the person managing the search or by the organization conducting the search. The provisions of this section do not apply to any licensed long-term health care provider conducting a search for a missing resident until the provider requests a search by a person or organization specified in subsection (1) of this section.
(e) The duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management shall contact the Transportation Cabinet if the local search coordinator determines that at any time during a search the use of electronic highway signs will aid in the search
and is in the best interest of the missing person.
(f) The making of this report does not relieve the person or organization from the duty to make other notifications and reports required in this section.
(3) Any search and rescue mission which has lasted four (4) hours without the subject being located shall be immediately reported to the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by telephone or radio. Any agency, including but not limited to local law enforcement, the Kentucky State Police, fire departments, rescue squads, and emergency management, that initiates a search for any missing person not considered a Golden or Green Alert shall make the notifications indicated in subsection (2) of this section within four (4) hours of initiation of the search. Any search by any agency shall be reported to the Division of Emergency Management by telephone or radio within four (4) hours of initiation by the local search and rescue coordinator, the local emergency management director, or their designee.
(4) The results of each lost, missing, or overdue person report or search mission required to be reported under subsections (1) to (3) of this section shall be reported to the division and the local director on forms provided by the division and containing the information required by administrative regulation. The report shall be filed within twenty (20) days after:
(a) The search and rescue mission is discontinued; or
(b) The victim has not been found and a decision is made to keep the case open or continue searching on a limited basis, whichever occurs earlier.
(5) Each agency required to notify a local emergency management director or the division of a report of a missing person, or a search mission pursuant to this section shall develop a written standard operating procedure for handling and reporting requests to search for missing, lost, or overdue persons. This standard operating procedure shall be a public record.
(6) The Transportation Cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to develop a written standard operating procedure for handling and reporting requests made by the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management to initiate the use of electronic highway signs as part of a search for a missing, lost, or overdue person. This standard operating procedure shall be a public record.
(7) The contents of reports, information to be conveyed upon notification, and other matters relating to the administration of this section and the securing of information required hereby shall be specified by the division by administrative regulations.
(8) There is no requirement in Kentucky to delay the search for or rescue of any lost, missing, or overdue person. Any person who is reported lost, missing, or overdue, adult or child, may be searched for immediately by any emergency management, fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, search and rescue, rescue squad, or other similar organization to which a missing or overdue person is reported. Any agency searching for a lost or missing person shall utilize existing resources, including but not limited to electronic highway signs, the Amber Alert System, law
enforcement communications systems, electronic media, local, regional, and statewide media providers, and the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, if authorized and under conditions permitted by the federal government. No public safety answering point, emergency dispatch center, or 911 center shall delay any call reporting a person lost, overdue, or missing to the organization specified in the county search and rescue annex of the county emergency management plan as responsible for searching for lost, missing, or overdue persons.
Effective: June 29, 2021
History: Amended 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 86, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2021. — Amended
2019 Ky. Acts ch. 54, sec. 2, effective June 27, 2019. — Amended 2012 Ky. Acts ch.
106, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2012. — Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 109, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2008. — Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 122, effective June
26, 2007. — Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 136, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002. — Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 226, sec. 100, effective July 15, 1998.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/12/2012). 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 106, sec. 6, provides that Sections 2 to 5 of the Act, which included an amendment to this statute, shall be known as the “Chase McMurray Act.”
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/12/2012). Although 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 106, sec. 4, contains a reference to “Section 1 of this Act” (KRS § 211.575) in subsection (2)(b) of this statute, that reference has been codified as KRS § 39F.010 (2012 Ky. Acts ch. 106, sec. 2) to correct the failure to make the necessary adjustment to this internal reference when the text of Senate Bill 93/SCS 2 was added to the draft in the Senate Committee Substitute to House Bill 467. This manifest clerical or typographical error has been corrected in codification under KRS § 7.136(1)(h).
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2008). 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 109, sec. 4, provides that Sections 1 to 3 of this Act, which included an amendment to this statute, shall be known as the “Golden Alert Bill.”
(a) The local emergency management director; and
Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 39F.180
- Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
- Committee substitute: Short for committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.
- Federal: refers to the United States. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Rescue: means gaining access, rendering appropriate care, and transporting of a person or persons by whatever means, to a safe environment for appropriate care. See Kentucky Statutes 39F.010
- Search: means the process of looking for a person or persons whose location is not precisely known, and who may be in distress. See Kentucky Statutes 39F.010
- Search and rescue mission: includes , but is not limited to, searching for a missing or lost person or persons, cave rescue, high angle or rough terrain rescue, urban search and rescue, dive rescue and recovery of drowning victims, inland water search, rescue, and recovery. See Kentucky Statutes 39F.010
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes territories, outlying possessions, and the District of Columbia. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Veteran at risk: means a veteran or an active-duty member of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, or a military reserve component of the United States who is known to have a physical or mental health condition, to include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), that is related to his or her service. See Kentucky Statutes 39F.010
(b) The local search and rescue coordinator for the jurisdiction in which the person is reported missing.
(2) (a) Any missing person report for a missing minor, as that term is defined in KRS
2.015, shall be immediately reported to the Department of Kentucky State
Police by the person or organization to whom the missing minor is reported.
(b) A missing person report for an impaired person as defined in KRS
39F.010(3)(a) shall immediately be reported as a Golden Alert D to the local emergency management director, local search and rescue coordinator if different from the local emergency manager, local media outlets, and the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by the person managing the search or by the organization conducting the search, in a manner to be established by county policy.
(c) A missing person report for an impaired person as defined in KRS
39F.010(3)(b) shall immediately be reported as a Golden Alert to the local emergency management director, local search and rescue coordinator if different from the local emergency manager, local media outlets, and the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by the person managing the search or by the organization conducting the search. The provisions of this section do not apply to any licensed long-term health care provider conducting a search for a missing resident until the provider requests a search by a person or organization specified in subsection (1) of this section.
(d) A missing person report for a veteran at risk shall immediately be reported as a Green Alert to the local emergency management director, local search and rescue coordinator if different from the local emergency management manager, local media outlets, and the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by the person managing the search or by the organization conducting the search. The provisions of this section do not apply to any licensed long-term health care provider conducting a search for a missing resident until the provider requests a search by a person or organization specified in subsection (1) of this section.
(e) The duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management shall contact the Transportation Cabinet if the local search coordinator determines that at any time during a search the use of electronic highway signs will aid in the search
and is in the best interest of the missing person.
(f) The making of this report does not relieve the person or organization from the duty to make other notifications and reports required in this section.
(3) Any search and rescue mission which has lasted four (4) hours without the subject being located shall be immediately reported to the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management by telephone or radio. Any agency, including but not limited to local law enforcement, the Kentucky State Police, fire departments, rescue squads, and emergency management, that initiates a search for any missing person not considered a Golden or Green Alert shall make the notifications indicated in subsection (2) of this section within four (4) hours of initiation of the search. Any search by any agency shall be reported to the Division of Emergency Management by telephone or radio within four (4) hours of initiation by the local search and rescue coordinator, the local emergency management director, or their designee.
(4) The results of each lost, missing, or overdue person report or search mission required to be reported under subsections (1) to (3) of this section shall be reported to the division and the local director on forms provided by the division and containing the information required by administrative regulation. The report shall be filed within twenty (20) days after:
(a) The search and rescue mission is discontinued; or
(b) The victim has not been found and a decision is made to keep the case open or continue searching on a limited basis, whichever occurs earlier.
(5) Each agency required to notify a local emergency management director or the division of a report of a missing person, or a search mission pursuant to this section shall develop a written standard operating procedure for handling and reporting requests to search for missing, lost, or overdue persons. This standard operating procedure shall be a public record.
(6) The Transportation Cabinet shall promulgate administrative regulations in accordance with KRS Chapter 13A to develop a written standard operating procedure for handling and reporting requests made by the duty officer of the Division of Emergency Management to initiate the use of electronic highway signs as part of a search for a missing, lost, or overdue person. This standard operating procedure shall be a public record.
(7) The contents of reports, information to be conveyed upon notification, and other matters relating to the administration of this section and the securing of information required hereby shall be specified by the division by administrative regulations.
(8) There is no requirement in Kentucky to delay the search for or rescue of any lost, missing, or overdue person. Any person who is reported lost, missing, or overdue, adult or child, may be searched for immediately by any emergency management, fire, law enforcement, emergency medical services, search and rescue, rescue squad, or other similar organization to which a missing or overdue person is reported. Any agency searching for a lost or missing person shall utilize existing resources, including but not limited to electronic highway signs, the Amber Alert System, law
enforcement communications systems, electronic media, local, regional, and statewide media providers, and the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, if authorized and under conditions permitted by the federal government. No public safety answering point, emergency dispatch center, or 911 center shall delay any call reporting a person lost, overdue, or missing to the organization specified in the county search and rescue annex of the county emergency management plan as responsible for searching for lost, missing, or overdue persons.
Effective: June 29, 2021
History: Amended 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 86, sec. 1, effective June 29, 2021. — Amended
2019 Ky. Acts ch. 54, sec. 2, effective June 27, 2019. — Amended 2012 Ky. Acts ch.
106, sec. 4, effective July 12, 2012. — Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 109, sec. 3, effective July 15, 2008. — Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 85, sec. 122, effective June
26, 2007. — Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 136, sec. 1, effective July 15, 2002. — Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 226, sec. 100, effective July 15, 1998.
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/12/2012). 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 106, sec. 6, provides that Sections 2 to 5 of the Act, which included an amendment to this statute, shall be known as the “Chase McMurray Act.”
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/12/2012). Although 2012 Ky. Acts ch. 106, sec. 4, contains a reference to “Section 1 of this Act” (KRS § 211.575) in subsection (2)(b) of this statute, that reference has been codified as KRS § 39F.010 (2012 Ky. Acts ch. 106, sec. 2) to correct the failure to make the necessary adjustment to this internal reference when the text of Senate Bill 93/SCS 2 was added to the draft in the Senate Committee Substitute to House Bill 467. This manifest clerical or typographical error has been corrected in codification under KRS § 7.136(1)(h).
Legislative Research Commission Note (7/15/2008). 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 109, sec. 4, provides that Sections 1 to 3 of this Act, which included an amendment to this statute, shall be known as the “Golden Alert Bill.”