AN ACT to add clarifying language to the statutory provisions of the state silver alert system regarding the use of the alert for missing persons of all ages that require greater protection from abuse, neglect, or exploitation due to a physical or mental disability and to appropriate funds.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 143B‑1022(a) reads as rewritten:

(a)      There is established within the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons the Silver Alert System. The purpose of the Silver Alert System is to provide a statewide system for the rapid dissemination of information regarding a missing person or missing child who is believed to be suffering from dementia, Alzheimer's disease, or a physical or mental disability that requires them to be protected from potential abuse or other physical harm, neglect, or exploitation.

SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Public Safety the sum of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) in nonrecurring funds for the 2022‑2023 fiscal year to be allocated to the North Carolina Center for Missing Persons to be used to develop and disseminate to relevant stakeholders educational materials that clarify the permissible uses of the North Carolina Silver Alert System.

SECTION 3.  Section 2 of this act becomes effective July 1, 2022. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law.