§1504 Subsequent Board of Inquiry

Summary

When new information comes up within one year after a report was sent about a missing person, the Secretary must set up a new board to look into it. The Secretary must also appoint a board about one year after the original report to check on a missing person’s status. If several disappearances seem connected, one board can investigate them together. Each board must have at least three members. If the board is only checking military members, its members must be officers at or above the rank of major or lieutenant commander. If it is only checking civilian Defense Department employees or contractors, it must include at least three DoD employees paid at or above the GS‑13 level, and it may also include military members the Secretary thinks are needed. If the board looks at both military and civilian cases, it must include at least one officer and one GS‑13‑level (or higher) DoD employee, and the mix of officers and employees should roughly match the mix of military and civilian subjects. The Secretary must name one board member as president who has the security clearance needed to see all information. One member must have a job specialty and experience like the missing person’s. The Secretary must give the board a judge advocate or an attorney with the required qualifications to act as legal adviser. The board must review earlier reports, gather any new documents or evidence, decide where the person likely is and what their status should be, and send a report with its findings and a recommendation to the Secretary. The Secretary must also appoint a lawyer to represent each missing person and must tell the primary next of kin and any previously named person who that lawyer is. The lawyer’s written review becomes part of the board’s official record. The primary next of kin, other immediate family, and any previously named person may attend board meetings. The Secretary must try to notify them at least 60 days before the board’s first meeting. People who get notice must tell the Secretary within 21 days if they plan to attend. Those who plan to attend may, if they are the primary next of kin or a previously designated person, bring private counsel; see the missing person’s personnel file and unclassified reports; present information; and, subject to deadlines, file written objections to the board’s recommendation. To file objections they must give a letter of intent within 15 days after recommendations are made and then file the written objections within 30 days. Attendees get no travel or legal cost reimbursement from the United States. The board can request information from any federal agency. Agencies must give the information and either declassify it appropriately or release it with classification markings. If some classified material cannot be declassified or summarized, it is shown only to the board president and the missing person’s counsel, and portions of the proceedings may be closed to anyone without the right clearance. The board must not recommend declaring someone dead unless it follows the rules in section 1507. After the board sends its report, the Secretary has 30 days to review the report, the counsel’s review, and any objections, and must decide if the report is complete or needs more work. If the report is complete, the Secretary will make a final determination about the person’s status. Within 60 days after that decision, the Secretary must give the report to the primary next of kin, other immediate family, and any previously designated person, and must tell them if further investigation will continue for someone still listed as missing. The Secretary’s determination replaces any earlier status and must be used by all U.S. departments and agencies.