HB 455 Summary

• Establishes the Alabama Critically Missing Adult Alert Program (known as "The Aniah Alert Law") to create an alert system for missing adults ages 18-64, filling a gap between existing Amber Alerts for children and Silver Alerts for senior citizens.

• Defines a critically missing adult as someone whose whereabouts are unknown, believed to be abducted, and whose disappearance poses a credible threat to health and safety as determined by law enforcement or the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA).

• Requires ALEA to develop uniform policies and standards for local law enforcement agencies to implement the program and establish procedures to verify and report critically missing adult information to ALEA.

• Makes participation in the program voluntary for both local law enforcement agencies and media outlets; local officials may issue local alerts at their discretion after conferring with ALEA, while ALEA determines whether to expand alerts to regional or statewide levels.

• Becomes effective on the first day of the third month following passage and approval by the Governor.