CHAPTER 49. CHILD WELFARE.

ARTICLE 6. MISSING CHILDREN INFORMATION ACT.

§49-6-112. Agencies to receive report; law-enforcement agency requirements.

(a) Upon completion of the missing child or missing and endangered child report the law-enforcement agency shall immediately forward the contents of the report to the missing children information clearinghouse and the National Crime Information Center’s missing person file. However, if an information entry into the National Crime Information Center file results in an automatic entry of the information into the clearinghouse, the law-enforcement agency is not required to make a direct entry of that information into the clearinghouse.

(b) Within 15 days of completion of the report, if the child is less than 13 years of age the law-enforcement agency may, when appropriate, forward the contents of the report to the last:

(1) Child care center or child care home in which the child was enrolled; or

(2) School the child attended in West Virginia, if any.

(c) A law-enforcement agency involved in the investigation of a missing child or missing and endangered child shall:

(1) Update the initial report filed by the agency that received notification of the missing child or missing and endangered child upon the discovery of new information concerning the investigation;

(2) Forward the updated report to the appropriate agencies and organizations;

(3) Search the National Crime Information Center’s wanted person file for reports of arrest warrants issued for persons who allegedly abducted or unlawfully retained children and compare these reports to the missing child’s National Crime Information Center’s missing person file; and

(4) Notify all law-enforcement agencies involved in the investigation, the missing children information clearinghouse, and the National Crime Information Center when the missing child is located.