General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5266
February Session, 2020 LCO No. 1514
Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Introduced by:
(VA)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A GREEN ALERT SYSTEM FOR MISSING
VETERANS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
1 Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2020) (a) As used in this 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 section.
9 (b) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
10 shall, within available appropriations, establish and administer a
11 communications network, to be known as the Green Alert
12 communications network, to provide assistance to a state or local law
13 enforcement agency searching for any missing veteran.
LCO No. 1514 1 of 4
 Raised Bill No. 5266
14 (c) (1) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public
15 Protection shall designate an employee of the Department of Emergency
16 Services and Public Protection to act as the coordinator of the Green
17 Alert communications network.
18 (2) The coordinator of the Green Alert communications network shall
19 develop proposed protocols for efforts to recover missing veterans and
20 to reduce the number of veterans who are reported missing, including
21 protocols for procedures that are needed from the time of initial
22 notification of a law enforcement agency that the veteran is missing
23 through the time of the return of the veteran to his or her family or
24 conservator.
25 (d) Not later than October 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, the
26 coordinator of the Green Alert communications network shall submit to
27 the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having
28 cognizance of matters relating to military and veterans' affairs and
29 public safety, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the
30 general statutes, a report on the activities of the coordinator, the number
31 of Green Alerts issued, the number of individuals located successfully,
32 the average period of time between the issuance of a Green Alert and
33 the location of the individual for whom such alert was issued and any
34 other information that the coordinator deems appropriate.
35 (e) (1) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection,
36 in consultation with the Military Department and the Department of
37 Veterans Affairs, shall adopt regulations in accordance with the
38 provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes to establish minimum
39 standards for (A) the issuance of alerts through the Green Alert
40 communications network, and (B) the extent of the dissemination of
41 alerts issued through the network.
42 (2) The minimum standards shall provide that:
43 (A) Appropriate information relating to the special needs of a missing
44 veteran, including health care needs, are disseminated to the
45 appropriate state or local law enforcement agency;
LCO No. 1514 2 of 4
 Raised Bill No. 5266
46 (B) Dissemination of an alert through the Green Alert
47 communications network be limited to the geographic areas that the
48 missing veteran could reasonably reach, considering the missing
49 veteran's circumstances and physical and mental condition, the modes
50 of transportation available to the missing veteran and the circumstances
51 of the disappearance;
52 (C) Alerts issued through the Green Alert communications network
53 comply with all applicable federal, state and local privacy laws and
54 regulations; and
55 (D) Civil liberties and sensitive medical information of missing
56 veterans are protected.
57 Sec. 2. Section 7-282c of the general statutes is repealed and the
58 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020):
59 Any municipal police department which receives a report of (1) a
60 missing child or missing youth under eighteen years of age, [or] (2) a
61 missing person who is eligible for assistance under subsection (a) of
62 section 29-1f, as amended by this act, or (3) a missing veteran, as defined
63 in subsection (a) of section 1 of this act, shall immediately accept such
64 report for filing and inform all on-duty police officers of the existence of
65 the missing child, missing youth, [or] missing person or missing veteran
66 report and communicate the report to other appropriate law
67 enforcement agencies.
68 Sec. 3. Section 29-1f of the general statutes is repealed and the
69 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2020):
70 (a) The clearinghouse established under section 29-1e shall collect,
71 process, maintain and disseminate information to assist in the location
72 of any missing person who (1) is eighteen years of age or older and has
73 a mental impairment, [or] (2) is sixty-five years of age or older, or (3) is
74 a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of section 1 of this act, provided a
75 missing person report prepared by the Department of Emergency
76 Services and Public Protection has been filed by such missing person's
LCO No. 1514 3 of 4
 Raised Bill No. 5266
77 relative, guardian, conservator or agent appointed by the missing
78 person in accordance with sections 1-350 to 1-353b, inclusive, any health
79 care representative appointed by the missing person in accordance with
80 section 19a-576 or a nursing home administrator, as defined in section
81 19a-511, or, pursuant to section 17a-465b, by an employee of the
82 Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services who is certified
83 under the provisions of sections 7-294a to 7-294e, inclusive. Such
84 relative, guardian, conservator, agent, health care representative,
85 nursing home administrator or employee shall attest under penalty of
86 perjury that the missing person (A) is eighteen years of age or older and
87 has a mental impairment, [or] (B) is sixty-five years of age or older, or
88 (C) is a veteran, as defined in subsection (a) of section 1 of this act. No
89 other proof shall be required in order to verify that the missing person
90 meets the criteria to be eligible for assistance under this subsection. Such
91 relative, guardian, conservator, agent, health care representative,
92 nursing home administrator or employee who files a missing person
93 report shall immediately notify the clearinghouse or law enforcement
94 agency if the missing person's location has been determined.
95 (b) Subject to available resources, the clearinghouse established by
96 section 29-1e may collect, process, maintain and disseminate
97 information to assist in the location of missing persons other than
98 children and those persons who are eligible for assistance under
99 subsection (a) of this section.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2020 7-282c
Sec. 3 October 1, 2020 29-1f
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a Green Alert system for 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.]
LCO No. 1514 4 of 4


Statutes affected:
Raised Bill: 7-282c, 29-1f