North Dakota Code 12-68-01 – Missing person reports
1. A report of a missing person may be made to any law enforcement agency in the state.
Terms Used In North Dakota Code 12-68-01
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means an individual, organization, government, political subdivision, or government agency or instrumentality. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
The law enforcement agency may not refuse to accept a missing person report solely on the basis that:
a. The missing person is an adult; b. The circumstances do not indicate foul play; c. The person has been missing for a short period of time; d. The person has been missing for a long period of time; or
e. There is no indication that the missing person was in the jurisdiction served by the law enforcement agency at the time of the disappearance.
2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, if, upon receiving sufficient information from the person making the report, the law enforcement agency that receives the initial report of a missing person determines that a law enforcement agency in another jurisdiction is clearly the more appropriate law enforcement agency to receive the missing person report, the law enforcement agency that receives the initial report may refer the missing person report to the more appropriate law enforcement agency. The responsibility for the missing person report remains with the law enforcement agency that receives the initial missing person report until the law enforcement agency in the other jurisdiction confirms, in writing, its acceptance of responsibility for the missing person report. If the law enforcement agency to which the missing person report is referred is located within this state, that law enforcement agency shall accept or decline the responsibility for the referred missing person report within twenty-four hours after receiving the request from the initial law enforcement agency. The law enforcement agency to which the report is referred may not decline acceptance of responsibility for the missing person report without good cause shown and may not decline acceptance of responsibility for the report solely on the basis of the factors listed in subsection 1.
3. The law enforcement agency shall accept a missing person report in person. A law enforcement agency also may accept reports by telephone or by electronic or other media to the extent that the reporting is consistent with law enforcement policies or practices.