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State Representative Sheldon Johnson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4201
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JOHNSON, PRETTNER SOLON INTRODUCE BILLS TO HELP FIND MISSING PERSONS
ST. PAUL, MN – Minnesota State Rep. Sheldon Johnson (DFL-St. Paul) and Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon (DFL-Duluth) have introduced legislation to help law enforcement retrieve records from cell phone companies so they can locate missing persons.
The legislation (H.F. 2639 and S.F. 2470) is commonly referred to as the “Kelsey Smith Act." Kelsey Smith was an 18-year-old from Kansas who was abducted and murdered in 2007. For four days, her parents, Greg and Missey, along with police, begged their cell phone company to hand over the “ping” records that show the location of a cell phone. It took four days before law enforcement received the records and within 45 minutes authorities located Kelsey’s body.
This legislation would require cell phone providers to hand over cell phone records to law enforcement in the case of a missing person when there is a risk or threat of death or serious physical harm. Rep. Johnson said this straightforward bill will give law enforcement another tool for protecting Minnesotans.
“Families should never lose a loved one when police officers are one step away from information that will prevent a horrible crime,” Johnson said. “I applaud the Smiths for their efforts to bring attention to this issue.”
A similar bill passed in Kansas last year, and the Smiths recently testified in Nebraska, where the bill is also being considered.
“Minnesota has the chance to be one of the early states to enact a common sense law,” Sen. Prettner Salon said. “Hopefully we can send a message to other states and work to prevent needless deaths.”
The bill has the support of St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington. The St. Paul Police Department investigated 1,390 cases of missing persons last year and has often had to rely on cell phone location information to find vulnerable children and adults.
The Smiths will testify before the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications at 3 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18 and before the House Telecommunications, Regulation and Infrastructure Division Committee at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 19.
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