It is hereby found and declared that:

(1) With the widespread use of computers, the internet and electronic devices to commit crimes and the critical lack of resources at state and local levels;

Terms Used In Missouri Laws 43.656

  • Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
  • State: when applied to any of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" includes such district and territories. See Missouri Laws 1.020

(2) Modern day criminals have learned to exploit the internet and electronic communication to leverage computer technology to reach a virtually unlimited number of victims while maintaining a maximum level of anonymity, computer crimes will continue to mount, especially in, but not limited to, the areas of child pornography and sexual offenses involving children, consumer fraud and harassment;

(3) It is necessary for the protection of the citizens of this state that provisions be made for the establishment of the Missouri regional computer forensics lab to prevent and reduce computer, internet and other electronically based crimes.