(Cheyenne) – A new Wyoming law will require law enforcement agencies to accept credible missing person reports immediately, with limited exceptions. Governor Mark Gordon will sign SF0114 into law today.
The law mandates that all qualifying missing person reports be entered into national, regional, and state databases within eight hours. If a person remains missing for 30 days, the law requires agencies to compile detailed case records for the Wyoming Attorney General’s office and Wyoming DCI for inclusion in the state’s clearinghouse database on missing persons. Law enforcement must also evaluate the use of media and social media alerts to aid searches.
A “credible” missing person report is not defined in the legislation, but the law allows agencies to reject reports if the person’s safety is confirmed, they were last seen outside Wyoming, another agency accepts the case, the report lacks a valid concern, the person fled voluntarily, or if other extenuating factors exist.
The legislation was introduced by Wyoming Sen. Bill Landen, R-Casper, who cited the present “lack of (a) consistent model for accepting such reports.”
Nicole Wagon, a Fremont County resident and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons advocate, testified in favor of the legislation earlier this month.
Wagon called the issue “especially urgent” for Indigenous communities, where “too often missing persons cases don’t get the attention they deserve” despite the “disproportionate rate of violence and missing persons within these communities,” Wagon said.
“But this isn’t just an indigenous issue,” she noted in her testimony. “It’s something that affects families across Wyoming. No one should have to navigate a confusing or inconsistent system when they’re trying to bring a loved one home.”
The new law takes effect July 1, 2025.