PARTVIII.  MISSING CHILD CENTER-HAWAII

 

Note

 

  Part heading amended by L 2005, c 32, §1(1).

 

§28-121  Missing child center-Hawaii;programs.  (a)  There is established within the department of the attorneygeneral a program to be known as the missing child center-Hawaii, formerlyknown as the Hawaii state clearinghouse for missing children, to assist in theimplementation of federal and state laws relating to missing children.

(b)  The missing child center-Hawaii shallinclude programs to coordinate the efforts of state and county agencies withthose of federal agencies in locating, recovering, and protecting missingchildren and to promote community awareness of the problem of missing children.

(c)  The department of the attorney generalshall employ, without regard to chapter 76, a coordinator and an assistant tothe coordinator who shall coordinate existing public and private resources andfurther define and develop, to the extent of available resources, the mostappropriate system for addressing the problem of missing children, which mayinclude the following:

(1)  A communication network among county and statelaw enforcement agencies and the National Crime Information Center inWashington, D.C.;

(2)  A standardized reporting system in all counties developedin conjunction with law enforcement officials at all levels;

(3)  Assistance in the establishment of trained searchteams that can be activated in each county;

(4)  Educational programs designed to prevent childabduction, enhance child safety, and raise public awareness about ways toprevent child abduction, molestation, and sexual exploitation;

(5)  A directory of resources to assist in locatingmissing children including names, addresses, and services provided by publicand private organizations; and

(6)  A statewide centralized, uniform, andcomputerized information database relating to family-related andnonfamily-related child abductions, as well as runaways and children who areunwanted by their parents. [L 1997, c 259, pt of §2; am L 2000, c 253, §150; amL 2005, c 32, §1(2)]