The Virginia State Police shall develop policies for the establishment of uniform standards for the creation of Virginia Missing Person with Autism 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 Missing Person with Autism Alert Programs; (ii) assist in determining the geographic scope of a particular Missing Person with Autism Alert; and (iii) establish procedures and standards by which a local law-enforcement agency shall verify that a person with autism is missing and shall report such information to the Virginia State Police.

Terms Used In Virginia Code 52-34.14

  • Media: means print, radio, television, and Internet-based communication systems or other methods of communicating information to the public. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
  • Missing Person with Autism Alert: means the notice of a missing person with autism provided to the public by the media or other methods under a Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreement. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
  • Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
  • Program: means the procedures and Missing Person with Autism Alert Agreements to aid in the identification and location of a missing person with autism. See Virginia Code 52-34.13
  • 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 Missing Person with Autism 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 Missing Person with Autism Alert Program.

2020, c. 19; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 189.