APPROVED CHAPTER
MAY 25, 2021 62
BY GOVERNOR PUBLIC LAW
STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-ONE
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S.P. 36 - L.D. 28
An Act To Update the Silver Alert Program To Include Missing Endangered
Persons
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 25 MRSA §2201, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 583, §1, is amended to read:
§2201. Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms
have the following meanings.
1. Department. "Department" means the Department of Public Safety.
2. Missing senior citizen. "Missing senior citizen" means a person:
A. Who at the time the person is first reported missing is 60 years of age or older or,
under extraordinary circumstances, a person 18 to 59 years of age who also meets the
criteria in paragraphs B and C;
B. With respect to whom there is a clear indication that the person has an irreversible
deterioration of intellectual faculties such as dementia, as determined by a local law
enforcement agency; and
C. Whose disappearance poses a credible threat to the safety and health of the person
as determined by a local law enforcement agency.
3. Media. "Media" means print, radio, Internet-based communication systems or other
methods of communicating information to the public.
3-A. Missing endangered person. "Missing endangered person" means a person who
is believed to be in danger because of the person's age, mental or physical health or
intellectual or developmental disability, because of environmental or weather conditions or
because the person is missing in dangerous, unexplained, involuntary or suspicious
circumstances as determined by a local law enforcement agency.
4. Silver Alert. "Silver Alert" means a notice provided under this chapter to the public
through law enforcement agencies and the media.
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 5. Silver Alert Program. "Silver Alert Program" means the statewide alert program
for missing senior citizens endangered persons developed and implemented under this
chapter.
Sec. 2. 25 MRSA §2202, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 583, §1, is amended to read:
§2202. Silver Alert Program
In accordance with this chapter and with the cooperation of the Department of
Transportation, the Maine Turnpike Authority, a statewide organization representing
broadcast groups in the State, the Office of the Governor and appropriate law enforcement
agencies, the department shall develop and implement the Silver Alert Program to be
activated on behalf of missing senior citizens endangered persons. The program must
include standards of procedure for local law enforcement agencies to determine that a
missing person is a missing senior citizen endangered person, to determine information to
be released regarding the missing endangered person or the circumstances of the person's
disappearance and to appropriately activate a Silver Alert to local or statewide law
enforcement agencies and to the media, a plan for providing relevant information to the
public through an existing system of dynamic message signs located across the State when
necessary and training for all law enforcement officers. The Silver Alert Program must be
developed and implemented using existing resources.
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Statutes affected:
Bill Text ACTPUB , Chapter 62: 25.2201, 25.2202