New Mexico lifts diagnostic criteria for Silver Alerts
Previously, New Mexico law excluded from Silver Alerts people with general cognitive decline or impairment, limiting their access to emergency response resources for missing people without a formal Alzheimer's or dementia diagnosis. (Photo by Getty Images)
Starting on June 20, police in New Mexico will no longer have the authority to determine whether to issue a public alert for a missing person suffering from Alzheimer's, dementia or other cognitive decline.
Instead, the decision to issue a 'Silver Alert' will be up to whoever is reporting the person missing, and the missing person will not require a formal diagnosis, under a new state law signed on March 21 by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
House Bill 197, which expands the eligibility for local police departments or the New Mexico State Police to issue the alerts, received unanimous approval by all three legislative committees that heard it, along with both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Previously, state law excluded from Silver Alerts people with general cognitive decline or impairment, limiting their access to emergency response resources for missing people without a formal Alzheimer's or dementia diagnosis.
Anastasia Martin, general counsel for the New Mexico Aging and Long Term Services Department, which houses the Adult Protective Services division, told the House Judiciary Committee on March 10 that her agency had 'run into challenges with the current law in having silver alerts issued.'
HB197 co-sponsor Rep. Joseph Sanchez (D-Alcalde) told the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on Feb. 13 that when a friend's relative from Albuquerque went missing, the friend asked police to issue a Silver Alert but they would not 'because the person wasn't medically diagnosed with a cognitive issue like dementia or Alzheimer's.'
HB197 relaxes the criteria for the alerts so that the reporting party only needs to indicate they believe the missing person shows signs or symptoms of Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, cognitive decline or impairment, regardless of age.
The law previously gave the police the final say on whether or not an alert was issued, based on whether they found 'clear indication that the individual suffers from Alzheimer's.'
Almost all people who have gone missing in the last three years were found after Silver Alerts were issued, according to data compiled by the New Mexico Department of Public Safety. DPS reported in its analysis of the bill that between 2022 and Jan. 31, 2025, nearly 95% of people who went missing were found after police issued a Silver Alert.
'The revised criteria may enhance the responsiveness of law enforcement agencies to missing persons cases involving cognitive decline,' the DPS analyst wrote. 'This could lead to quicker recoveries, reducing risks to vulnerable individuals and improving public safety.'
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