{"format":1,"id":"117-s-5230","congress":117,"number":"S. 5230","kind":"bill","group":"bills","title":"Help Find the Missing Act","title_source":"Short Titles as Enacted","official_title":"A bill to increase accessibility to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, to facilitate data sharing between such system and the National Crime Information Center database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and for other purposes.","titles":[{"type":"Official Title as Introduced","title":"A bill to increase accessibility to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, to facilitate data sharing between such system and the National Crime Information Center database of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and for other purposes."},{"type":"Short Titles from ENR (Enrolled) bill text","title":"Help Find the Missing Act"},{"type":"Short Titles from ENR (Enrolled) bill text","title":"Billy’s Law"},{"type":"Short Titles as Enacted","title":"Help Find the Missing Act"},{"type":"Short Titles as Enacted","title":"Billy's Law"},{"type":"Display Title","title":"Billy's Law"},{"type":"Short Titles as Passed House","title":"Billy's Law"},{"type":"Short Titles as Passed House","title":"Help Find the Missing Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Help Find the Missing Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Introduced","title":"Billy’s Law"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed Senate","title":"Help Find the Missing Act"},{"type":"Short Title(s) as Passed Senate","title":"Billy’s Law"}],"outcome":"became_law","law_number":"Public Law 117-327","introduced":"2022-12-08","chambers":{"house":{"status":"roll_call","date":"2022-12-14","vote":{"id":"117-2022-h526","question":"On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass","title":"Billy’s Law","result":"Passed","yea":422,"nay":4,"present":0,"not_voting":4,"source":"https://clerk.house.gov/evs/2022/roll526.xml"}},"senate":{"status":"voice","date":"2022-12-08","vote":null,"how":"unanimous_consent","words":"Passed/agreed to in Senate: Introduced in the Senate, read twice, considered, read the third time, and passed without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S7080-7081; text: CR S7080-7081)"}},"president":{"status":"signed","date":"2022-12-27"},"vice_president_tie_breaker":null,"latest_action":{"text":"Became Public Law No: 117-327.","date":"2022-12-27"},"nominees":null,"amendments":[],"other_votes":[],"crs_summary":{"date":"2022-12-27","stage":"Public Law","blocks":[{"k":"h","t":"Billy's Law or the Help Find the Missing Act"},{"k":"p","t":"This act provides statutory authority for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to maintain the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) consistent with its existing purpose and structure."},{"k":"p","t":"NamUs is a national information clearinghouse and resource center for cases involving missing persons and unidentified or unclaimed remains. NamUs is administered by the National Institute of Justice within DOJ."},{"k":"p","t":"The act also establishes new requirements."},{"k":"p","t":"First, it requires a law enforcement agency that submits a missing child report to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) to also submit the missing child report to NamUs. The NCIC is a computerized index of criminal justice data and files for reports of missing and unidentified persons. Current law requires law enforcement agencies to submit missing child reports to the NCIC database but not to the NamUs databases."},{"k":"p","t":"Second, the act establishes requirements to facilitate data sharing between the NCIC database and the NamUs databases with respect to missing and unidentified persons."},{"k":"p","t":"Specifically, the act requires DOJ to give the National Institute of Justice access to the NCIC missing person and unidentified person records for the purpose of validating cases and reconciling data with NamUs."},{"k":"p","t":"Additionally, the act requires DOJ to assess the NCIC and NamUs systems and governing statutes, policies, and procedures and create a plan for NCIC to automatically transmit certain records to NamUs."},{"k":"p","t":"Third, the act requires DOJ to report to forensic medicine service providers and law enforcement agencies on best practices for collecting, reporting, and analyzing data and information on missing persons and unidentified human remains."},{"k":"p","t":"DOJ must also report to Congress biennially on the status of the NCIC database and the NamUs databases. The report must describe the process of information sharing between the NCIC database and NamUs databases."}],"words":298},"summary":{"main_subject":{"text":"Directs the Attorney General to maintain the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), requires missing child reports to also go to NamUs, and sets up data sharing between NamUs and the FBI's National Crime Information Center database.","cites":[{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#id6d8094ae7c204f8e823631be547cf41d:~:text=2.%20Authorization%20of%20the%20national%20missing%20and"},{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#idb62d8b24933d443c9c65e727666f3784:~:text=3.%20Information%20sharing"}]},"core_areas":["National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) operation and funding uses","Reporting of missing children to NamUs","Data sharing between NamUs and the National Crime Information Center database","Best practices and reports on missing persons and unidentified remains data"],"what_it_does":[{"text":"Requires the Attorney General to maintain NamUs as a national information clearinghouse and resource center for missing, unidentified, and unclaimed person cases, administered by the National Institute of Justice.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#id6d8094ae7c204f8e823631be547cf41d:~:text=2.%20Authorization%20of%20the%20national%20missing%20and"}},{"text":"Lists permissible uses of funds awarded under the section, including hiring case support personnel, forensic analyses such as DNA typing, and training State, local, and Tribal law enforcement personnel and forensic medicine service providers on NamUs.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#id6d8094ae7c204f8e823631be547cf41d:~:text=2.%20Authorization%20of%20the%20national%20missing%20and"}},{"text":"Amends the Crime Control Act of 1990 so that missing child reports made to the National Crime Information Center must also be reported to the NamUs databases, and applies this to reports made before, on, or after the date of enactment.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 2","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#id6d8094ae7c204f8e823631be547cf41d:~:text=2.%20Authorization%20of%20the%20national%20missing%20and"}},{"text":"Requires the Attorney General, within 1 year of enactment, to give the National Institute of Justice or its designee access to the NCIC Missing Person and Unidentified Person Files for case validation and NamUs data reconciliation.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#idb62d8b24933d443c9c65e727666f3784:~:text=3.%20Information%20sharing"}},{"text":"Requires the Attorney General, within 6 months of enactment, to complete an assessment of the NCIC and NamUs systems and propose a plan for automatic transmission of certain NCIC missing and unidentified person records to NamUs on set timelines.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 3","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#idb62d8b24933d443c9c65e727666f3784:~:text=3.%20Information%20sharing"}},{"text":"Requires the Attorney General to report to Congress's Judiciary Committees within 1 year of enactment and every 2 years afterward on the status of the NCIC and NamUs databases.","cite":{"label":"Sec. 5","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr#id17bb1d1c8054453083581fc27dba675d:~:text=5.%20Report%20to%20congress"}}],"unexpected":[],"version":{"type":"Enrolled Bill","date":null,"rule":"enrolled","href":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text/enr"},"current":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","approved":"2026-10-15","approved_by":"checks"},"sources":{"congress_gov":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230","text":"https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/5230/text"},"card":{"image":"card/item/117-s-5230.png","v":"a1d5e617f781","alt":"Votes on Record. S. 5230, 117th Congress: Help Find the Missing Act. House: 422 Yea, 4 Nay. Senate: unanimous consent. Outcome: Became law, 27 Dec 2022."}}