Senate Bill 27 has been introduced to the South Dakota Senate. That bill aims to establish a statewide missing persons clearing house. If the bill passes, the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation will develop and maintain a website containing information about missing people and help improve law enforcement training procedures.

That website would be accessible to anyone. Pennington County Sheriff Kevin Thom said, “It gives a centralized clearinghouse for law enforcement, so that’s a good thing, but it also is, like enabling legislation that allows law enforcement, in this case the Division of Criminal Investigation, to share that information with the public.”

It is believed that the database would contain basic information about missing people including the person’s name, physical description, their last know location, who they were with, and if foul play is suspected. That system would be synced into the National Crime Information Center to help share information.

If the bill passes, the agency will need to determine how much information will be given to the public. Additional details about Senate Bill 27 can be found here.