22-05-2025
New bills would loosen restrictions on AMBER Alert issuing
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — A set of newly introduced bipartisan bills in the state legislature would expand the state's activation criteria and incorporate social media as a method of broadcasting them.
Currently, only issue an AMBER alert if they believe a child has been abducted and is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death. House Bills and would change that.
House Bill 4518 is also known as the Rowan Act, would allow MSP to issue an AMBER alert if a child is missing and law enforcement believes them to be in danger or if a missing child has special needs. The bill was named for six-year-old Rowan Milford Morey from Isabella County, who was murdered by his father in an apparent murder-suicide in August 2024.
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The legislators behind the bills say the limitations on emergency response systems meant that when local law enforcement did a welfare check on Rowan, who had not been returned to his mother on schedule, he and his father were already dead.
House Bill 4517 would incorporate social media into the various information channels used to distribute AMBER alerts, which lawmakers behind the bill say will increase the speed at which the alert spreads and increase the chance of a successful rescue of a missing child.
The two bills have been referred to the Committee on Families and Veterans for further review.
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