Filing missing child reports; notification upon location; purging information; return of fingerprints.
Del. Code tit. 11, § 8544
in effect(a) Every constable, chief police officer, officer in charge, member of the State Police and other law-enforcement agency, and officer of the State and of any local governmental unit shall do all of the following:
(1) Immediately accept and act on information on any missing child by police radio broadcasts and by causing missing child entries to be made into the Delaware Criminal Justice Information System (“DELJIS”) and NCIC.
(2) Transmit information to the Clearinghouse, so far as available, on a missing child report concerning a missing child within 24 hours after receipt of the information.
(3) Notify the Delaware Information Analysis Center (“DIAC”). At the request of the law-enforcement agency, DIAC shall assist by providing intelligence and disseminating information on the missing child to the appropriate law-enforcement partners.
(4) Institute appropriate search procedures, including the coordination of volunteer search teams.
(5) Notify the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
(b) Any person may submit a missing child report to a local law-enforcement agency having jurisdiction for investigation and referral of the missing child report to the Clearinghouse on any child whose whereabouts is unknown, regardless of the circumstances, and the report must be included in the Clearinghouse database.
(c) The person responsible for notifying the Clearinghouse or a law-enforcement agency of a missing child shall immediately notify the Clearinghouse or the law-enforcement agency of any child whose location has been determined.
(d) Information received under this section must be purged by the appropriate law-enforcement agency and the Clearinghouse immediately on location of a missing child who has been included in the Clearinghouse database. Fingerprints of a missing child provided to a law-enforcement agency or the Clearinghouse must be returned to the person providing the fingerprints on location of the missing child.
(e) The Delaware State Police shall adopt rules and regulations for the utilization of DIAC to assist investigative law-enforcement agencies during their investigation as a resource for the receipt, analysis, and dissemination of information to those entities that have a need and right to know about the missing child.
Source: DE Code (Official Site)URL: https://delcode.delaware.gov/title11/c085/sc03/index.htmlFetched: 10/4/2026