Committee approves measure to require timely reporting of missing persons, adds 'without delay' language

Senate File 114, a bill to standardize how Wyoming law enforcement agencies accept and report missing-person cases, was amended and passed by the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 14, 2025. The committee voted to add the words "without delay" to the bill and approved the amended measure by a 9-0 voice/roll call that recorded nineayes.

The bill seeks to require every Wyoming law enforcement agency to "accept without delay any credible report of a missing person made to a law enforcement agency," while carving out a short list of reasons an agency could decline to take a report. It also directs timely entry into national systems to speed cross-jurisdictional alerts, testimony and sponsor remarks said.

Supporters told the committee the bill responds to inconsistent practices around adults who go missing and to problems when multiple jurisdictions assume another agency is the primary reporting agency. "In a few instances law enforcement agencies in our state may believe another law enforcement entity to be the primary reporting agency and thus, they would decline to accept a report of a missing person," sponsor Senator Landen said, describing how the bill prioritizes which agency should accept the report. "This bill outlines a specific procedure for all Wyoming law enforcement agencies to follow."

The bill…