CA AB2461

General acute care hospitals and acute psychiatric hospitals must report to local law enforcement within 5 business days when a patient's identity is unknown and the patient cannot identify themselves due to medical or psychiatric condition.

Law enforcement agencies receiving such reports must attempt to identify the patient within 5 business days using fingerprints, the National Crime Information Center database, the National Institute of Justice National Missing and Unidentified Persons System database, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database if the patient appears under 21 years old.

Law enforcement must promptly provide the hospital with the patient's identity or emergency contact information if identification is successful.

Hospitals may disclose any information reasonably necessary to identify the patient and emergency contact to local law enforcement.

The bill imposes state-mandated local program duties on law enforcement agencies with reimbursement procedures governed by existing state mandate law.