Pen. Code, § 14211 · Title 12. VIOLENT CRIME INFORMATION CENTER
Pen. Code, § 14211
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) All local police and sheriffs’ departments shall accept any report, by any party, including any telephonic report, of a missing person, including runaways, without delay and shall give priority to the handling of these reports over the handling of reports relating to crimes involving property.
(b) If the person making a report of a missing person or runaway, contacts, including by telephone, the Department of the California Highway Patrol, the Department of the California Highway Patrol may take the report, and shall immediately advise the person making the report of the name and telephone number of the police or sheriff’s department having jurisdiction of the residence address of the missing person and of the name and telephone number of the police or sheriff’s department having jurisdiction of the place where the person was last seen.
(c) In cases of reports involving missing persons, including, but not limited to, runaways, the local police or sheriff’s department shall immediately take the report and make an assessment of reasonable steps to be taken to locate the person by using the report forms, checklists, and guidelines required under Section 13519.07.
(d) If the missing person is under 21 years of age, or there is evidence that the person is at risk, the police department or sheriff’s department shall broadcast a “Be On the Lookout” bulletin, without delay, within its jurisdiction.
(e) If the person reported missing is under 21 years of age, or if there is evidence that the person is at risk, the law enforcement agency receiving the report shall, within two hours after the receipt of the report, electronically transmit the report to the Department of Justice via the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System for inclusion in the Violent Crime Information Center and the National Crime Information Center databases.
(f) Information not immediately available for electronic transmission to the department shall be obtained by the investigating agency and provided as a supplement to the original entry as soon as possible, but in no event later than 60 days after the original electronic entry. Supplemental information may include, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) Dental records and treatment notes.
(2) Fingerprints.
(3) Photographs.
(4) Description of physical characteristics.
(5) Description of clothing the person was wearing when last seen.
(6) Vehicle information.
(7) Other information describing any person or vehicle believed to be involved in taking, abducting, or retaining the missing person.
(g) If the report is taken by a department, other than that of the city or county of residence of the missing person or runaway, the department, or division of the Department of the California Highway Patrol taking the report shall, without delay, and, in the case of persons under 21 years of age or if there was evidence that the missing person was at risk, within no more than 24 hours, notify, and forward a copy of the report to the police or sheriff’s department or departments having jurisdiction of the residence address of the missing person or runaway and of the place where the person was last seen. The report shall also be submitted by the department or division of the Department of the California Highway Patrol which took the report to the center. The initial California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System record may only be removed after the receiving agency has accepted the report.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 228, Sec. 1. (SB 388) Effective January 1, 2021.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=14211.
- Text hash
- sha256 1d7902484b54105325e4b8fb3c78d52415cefe2bea7f523a83204b4e5d96d309
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Cited by 1 provision
Provisions in this library whose text cites Pen. Code, § 14211. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.