S. 1038: Tracking and Reporting Absent Community-Members Everywhere Act

This bill, officially titled the Tracking and Reporting Absent Community-Members Everywhere Act or the TRACE Act, proposes to enhance the data contained within the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), which is managed by the Attorney General's office. The main objectives of the bill are:

Purpose of the Bill

• To require the Attorney General to add a new data field to the NamUs. This field would indicate whether a missing person's last known location was confirmed or suspected to be on Federal land.
• To specify that this field should also contain details about the specific unit of Federal land where the person was last known to be located.

Definition of Federal Land

For the purposes of this bill, Federal land is defined as land owned by the United States that is managed by specific government departments, including:

• The Secretary of Agriculture.
• The Secretary of the Interior, excluding lands held in trust for Indian Tribes.
• The Secretary of Defense, but only for lands related to water resources projects overseen by the Corps of Engineers.

Reporting Requirements

The bill mandates that the Attorney General must prepare and submit a report to the Senate and House Judiciary Committees. This report will detail:

• The number of missing person cases in the NamUs where the last known location was confirmed or suspected to be on Federal land.

This report is to be submitted for the first time by January 15 of the second year following the bill's enactment, with subsequent reports required annually thereafter.

Overall Intent

The overall intent of the TRACE Act is to better track and report cases involving missing persons in relation to Federal land, potentially aiding investigations and improving public awareness of these cases.

Relevant Companies

None found.