§ 837-e. Statewide central register for missing children. 1. There is
hereby established through electronic data processing and related
procedures, a statewide central register for missing children which
shall be compatible with the national crime information center register
maintained pursuant to the federal missing children act of nineteen
hundred eighty-two. As used in this article, the term missing child
shall mean any person under the age of eighteen years, or any youth,
under the age of twenty-one years, that the office of children and
family services or a local department of social services has
responsibility for placement, care, or supervision, or who is the
subject child of a child protective investigation, or is receiving
preventive services or services under section 477 of the Social Security
Act, or has run away from foster care, where such office or department
has reasonable cause to believe that such youth is, or is at risk of
being, a sex trafficking victim, who is missing from his or her normal
and ordinary place of residence and whose whereabouts cannot be
determined by a person responsible for the child's care and any child
known to have been taken, enticed or concealed from the custody of his
or her lawful guardian by a person who has no legal right to do so.

1-a. (a) Upon the entry of a report of a missing child born in New
York into the register, the division shall notify the commissioner of
the state department of health or if the child was born in the city of
New York, the commissioner of the New York city department of health, of
such entry and shall provide such commissioner with information
concerning the identity of the missing child and request that the birth
certificate record of such child be flagged in accordance with section
four thousand one hundred of the public health law.

(b) If the division has reason to believe that a missing child has at
any time been enrolled in a New York school, it shall notify the last
known school at which time the school shall flag the missing child's
schooling record in accordance with section three thousand two hundred
twenty-two of the education law. If the division has reason to believe
that a child who is listed as a missing child is currently enrolled in
and attending a New York school, it shall notify the school and upon
receiving notification, such school shall immediately notify the
statewide central register for missing children within the division of
criminal justice services.

(c) Upon learning of the recovery of any missing child whose birth
certificate record or schooling record has been flagged as the result of
notification made pursuant to this subdivision, the division shall so
notify the state commissioner of health or if the child was born in the
city of New York, the commissioner of the New York city department of
health, and the school as appropriate.

1-b. The division shall transmit the report of the missing child to
the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) no later
than thirty days after entry of a report of a missing child into the
register whenever circumstances indicate that the missing child may be
at immediate risk of death or injury, or may be a match to a record
maintained in the NamUs unidentified person database and within one
hundred eighty days in any other case.

2. The following may make inquiries to determine if any entries in the
register or in the national crime information center register could
match the subject of the inquiry:

(a) a police or criminal justice agency investigating a report of a
missing or unidentified child, whether living or deceased; and

(b) the agency licensing, certifying or registering a family day care
home, day care center or head start program funded pursuant to Title V
of the Federal Economic Opportunity Act of nineteen hundred sixty-four
as amended, when an operator or director of such program has reasonable
cause to believe that a child in attendance at the home, center or
program may be a missing person provided, however, that upon
notification that such child appears to match a child registered herein
such agency shall immediately notify such operator or director to
contact an appropriate local criminal justice agency; and

(c) a district attorney or a county medical examiner or coroner upon a
showing that information contained in the register may be necessary for
the determination of an issue regarding a missing or unidentified child;
and

(d) an authorized agency or state official pursuant to subdivision
seven of section three hundred seventy-two of the social services law;
and

(e) a superintendent of schools or his authorized representative
pursuant to paragraph a of subdivision two of section three thousand two
hundred twelve of the education law. No civil or criminal liability
shall arise or attach to any school district or employee thereof for any
act or omission to act as a result of, or in connection with, the duties
or activities authorized or directed by this paragraph.

3. The central register shall contain all available identifying data
of any child including, but not limited to, fingerprints, blood types,
dental information, and photographs subject to the following conditions:

(a) Except as provided for in paragraph (c) of this subdivision and in
section eight hundred thirty-seven-f of this article, the data contained
in the register shall be confidential.

(b) Any person who knowingly and intentionally permits the release of
any data and information contained in the central register to persons or
agencies not permitted by this title shall be guilty of a class A
misdemeanor.

(c) Such data may be made available only to:

(i) a police or criminal justice agency investigating a report of a
missing child or unidentified child, whether living or deceased;

(ii) the public at large, to expedite the finding of a missing child,
when the parent or legal guardian of such a child provides written
authorization to the investigating police department for the release of
such data except when, according to such department, the release of such
data would jeopardize the investigation or the safety of the child. When
such department deems the release of such data to be appropriate, it
shall transmit such written authorization to the division; and

(iii) any qualified person engaged in bona fide research when approved
by the commissioner, provided that the researcher in no event disclose
information tending to identify the child or his or her family or
caregiver.

4. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations:

(a) insuring the timeliness, completeness and confidentiality of the
data contained in the register;

(b) prescribing the manner in which entries to the register shall be
made and updated as the investigation progresses;

(c) prescribing the form and manner in which entries and inquiries to
the register and notices to other agencies and entities shall be made
and processed;

(d) insuring that criminal justice agencies and agencies defined by
subdivision seven of section three hundred seventy-two of the social
services law making inquiries to the register will be promptly informed
if any entries in the statewide central register or in the national
crime information center register could match the subject of the
inquiry;

(e) insuring the proper disposition of all obsolete register data,
provided however that such data for a person who has reached the age of
eighteen and remains missing shall be preserved;

(f) linking the register with the national crime information center
register; and

(g) establishing procedures for transmitting reports of missing
children and adults to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons
System (NamUs) pursuant to subdivision one-b of this section and section
eight hundred thirty-seven-f-two of this article.

5. The division shall not charge a fee for inquiries made pursuant to
this section.

6. When a person previously reported missing has been found alive and
there is no ground for criminal action, the superintendent of state
police, sheriff, chief of police, coroner or medical examiner, or other
criminal justice agency shall purge and destroy identifying material
contained in such records and documents with respect to such person
which are made and maintained pursuant to this section and shall report
to the division that the person has been found and that the identifying
materials contained in such records and documents have been so purged or
destroyed. After receiving such a report, the division shall purge
identifying material contained in such records with respect to such
person and/or destroy any identifying material contained in documents
which are maintained pursuant to this section.