Silver alert program; missing vulnerable persons
HRS §353C-15
in effect353C-15. Silver alert program; missing vulnerable persons
(a) The department shall develop and implement a silver alert program to rapidly disseminate information about a person subject to the silver alert.
(b) If a person is
reported missing to a law enforcement agency and that agency determines that
the conditions of subsection (g) are met, the agency may request the department
to activate a silver alert. If the department concurs that the conditions of
subsection (g) are met, the department shall activate a silver alert within the
geographical area requested by the investigating law enforcement agency.
(c) Radio,
television, cable, and satellite systems are encouraged to, but not required
to, cooperate with disseminating the information contained in a silver alert.
(d) Upon activation
of a silver alert, the department shall assist the investigating law
enforcement agency by issuing a be-on-the-lookout alert, issuing an electronic
flyer, or activating a changeable message sign, as permissible.
(e) The department,
as permitted, may use the Wireless Emergency Alerts System.
(f) The department,
as permitted, may use a changeable message sign if the following conditions are
met:
(1) The investigating law enforcement agency
determines that a vehicle may be involved in the missing person incident; and
(2) Specific vehicle identification is available for
public dissemination.
(g) A law enforcement agency may request from
the department that a silver alert be activated if the agency determines that
all of the following conditions are met regarding the investigation of the
missing person:
(1) The missing person is sixty-five years of age or
older, cognitively impaired, or developmentally disabled;
(2) The law enforcement agency has utilized all
available local resources;
(3) The law enforcement agency determines that the
person has gone missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances;
(4) The law enforcement agency believes that the
missing person is in danger because of age, health, mental or physical
disability, or environment or weather conditions; the missing person is in the
company of a potentially dangerous person; or there are other factors
indicating that the missing person may be in peril; and
(5) There is information available that, if
disseminated to the public, could assist in the safe recovery of the missing
person.
(h) For purposes of this section:
"Cognitively impaired" means affected
by a cognitive impairment, as defined in section 431:10H-201.
"Developmentally disabled" means
affected by a severe, chronic disability of a person that:
(1) Is attributable to a mental or physical
impairment or combination of mental and physical impairments;
(2) Is manifested before the person attains age
twenty-two;
(3) Is likely to continue indefinitely;
(4) Results in substantial functional limitations in
three or more of the following areas of major life activity: self-care,
receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity
for independent living, and economic sufficiency; and
(5) Reflects the person's need for a combination and
sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic care, treatment, or other
services that are of lifelong or extended duration and are individually planned
and coordinated.
"Silver alert" means a notification
system, activated pursuant to this section, designed to issue and coordinate
alerts with respect to a situation that meets the conditions of subsection (g).
[L 2024, c 158, §2]
Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol07_Ch0346-0398/HRS0353C/HRS_0353C-0015.htmFetched: 11/10/2026