The Virginia State Police shall develop policies for the establishment of uniform standards for the creation of Critically Missing Adult Alert Programs throughout the Commonwealth. The Virginia State Police shall (i) inform local law-enforcement officials of the policies and procedures to be used for the Critically Missing Adult Alert Programs; (ii) assist in determining the geographic scope of a particular Critically Missing Adult Alert; and (iii) establish procedures and standards by which a local law-enforcement agency shall verify that an adult is a critically missing adult and shall report such information to the Virginia State Police.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 52-34.11

  • Adult: means a person 18 years of age or more. See Virginia Code 1-203
  • Critically missing adult: means an adult, including an adult who has a developmental disability, intellectual disability, or mental illness as those terms are defined in § 37. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
  • Critically missing adult alert: means the notice of a critically missing adult provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
  • Critically Missing Adult Alert Program: means the procedures and Critically Missing Adult Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a critically missing adult. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
  • Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.10
  • State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245

The establishment of a Critically Missing Adult Alert Program by a local law-enforcement agency and the media is voluntary, and nothing in this chapter shall be construed to be a mandate that local officials or the media establish or participate in a Critically Missing Adult Alert Program.

2018, c. 397.