South Carolina S 112: Missing Persons

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 112 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 11, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 112

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE 
"HELP FIND THE MISSING ACT"; AND BY ADDING SECTION 23-1-260 SO AS TO DEFINE 
CERTAIN TERMS, PROVIDE CIRCUMSTANCES WHEN CORONERS OR MEDICAL EXAMINERS MUST 
REFER DECEDENTS' BODIES FOR EXAMINATION TO SLED'S FORENSIC SERVICES LABORATORY 
WHICH MUST RETAIN AND FURNISH CERTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THE PERSONS TO THE 
NATIONAL MISSING AND UNIDENTIFIED PERSONS SYSTEM, TO REQUIRE THE COLLECTION OF 
DENTAL RECORDS BY LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES OF PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECTS OF 
MISSING PERSONS REPORTS UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, TO PROVIDE FOR THE 
REPORTING OF MISSING PERSONS IN CERTAIN DATABASES, TO REQUIRE SLED TO ADOPT 
RULES RELATING TO THE DISSEMINATION OF MISSING PERSONS' RECORDS, TO PROVIDE LAW 
ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES MAY NOT ESTABLISH OR MAINTAIN POLICIES WHICH REQUIRE A 
WAITING PERIOD BEFORE ACCEPTING AND INVESTIGATING MISSING CHILD REPORTS AND 
MUST ENTER THE REPORTS INTO THE NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER, TO PROVIDE 
WHEN MISSING PERSONS ARE FOUND, LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES MUST INFORM SLED AND 
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE THAT THE PERSONS HAVE BEEN FOUND, TO PROVIDE 
THIS SECTION DOES NOT PROHIBIT CERTAIN AGENCIES AND PERSONS FROM MAINTAINING 
CASE FILES RELATED TO MISSING CITIZENS OR UNIDENTIFIED BODIES, AND TO PROVIDE 
SLED SHALL PERFORM ANNUALLY A COMPLIANCE REVIEW OF THE PROVISIONS CONTAINED IN 
THIS SECTION. 

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Help Find the Missing Act."

SECTION 2. Chapter 1, Title 23 of the S.C. Code is amended by 
adding:

 Section 
23-1-260. (A) As used in this 
section:

 (1) 
"Missing citizen" means:

 (a) 
a person whose age at the time the person is first reported missing is sixty 
years of age or older, whose whereabouts are unknown, and who is believed to be 
in danger because of age, health, mental health conditions, or physical 
disability, in combination with environmental or weather conditions, or is 
believed to be unable to return to safety without assistance;

 (b) 
a person of any age who suffers from a documented case of dementia, whose 
whereabouts are unknown, who is believed to be in danger because of the 
dementia or a physical impairment, and is believed to be unable to return to 
safety without assistance; or

 (c) 
a person whose age at the time the person is first reported missing is eighteen 
years of age or older, whose whereabouts are unknown, who has an intellectual, 
developmental, or physical disability, and who is believed to be in danger 
because of the disability or is believed to be unable to return to safety 
without assistance; and

 (2) 
"Unidentified body" means human remains which are unidentified after all 
available methods have been exhausted.

 (B) In 
all cases in which the county coroner or medical examiner is not satisfied with 
a decedent's identification, the body shall be referred for examination to the 
SLED Forensic Services Laboratory. 

 (C) 
The SLED Forensic Services Laboratory shall retain and furnish the National 
Missing and Unidentified Persons System created by the United States Department 
of Justice's National Institute of Justice (NamUs), if physically possible, 
copies of fingerprints on standardized eight inch by eight inch fingerprint 
cards or the equivalent digital image, prints or partial prints of any fingers, 
any forensic odontology report concerning the body, detailed personal 
descriptions, DNA results, and all other identifying data, including date and 
place of death, of all deceased persons whose deaths are in a classification 
requiring inquiry by the coroner or medical examiner and who remain 
unidentified after all available methods have been exhausted.

 (D) 
When a person makes a report of a missing person or missing child to a law 
enforcement agency, the agency immediately shall request a member of the family 
or next of kin of the missing person or missing child to authorize the release 
to the law enforcement agency the dental records of the person reported 
missing. If the person reported missing is still missing thirty days after the 
report is made, the law enforcement agency shall deliver the release to the 
dentist of the missing person and request the dentist to deliver the records, 
including dental x-rays, to the law enforcement agency.

 (E) If 
the person reported missing has not been found within the first thirty days and 
no family or next of kin exists or can be located, the law enforcement agency 
may execute a written declaration, stating that an active investigation seeking 
the location of the missing person is being conducted