Title 34, NavyRelease 119-110

§21903 Ashanti Alert Coordinator

Title 34 › Subtitle II — Protection of Children and Other Persons › CHAPTER 219 — ASHANTI ALERT COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK › § 21903

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Attorney General must pick an employee in the Office of Justice Programs to be the national Ashanti Alert coordinator. The coordinator works with States and Tribes to help them create compatible Ashanti Alert plans. They write voluntary guidance on what resources are needed, when an alert should be used (including rules about an adult’s mental capacity, the circumstances, and the credibility of the person reporting), how to use the Ashanti Alert name, and how to protect the missing adult’s privacy and dignity. The coordinator also creates suggested procedures for finding missing adults and managing cases (such as public safety communications, command center work, reunification, reviews, and rules for when not to issue an alert). They set up an advisory group with regional and stakeholder representatives (advocacy groups, law enforcement, victim service providers, broadcasters, first responders, dispatchers, and others), serve as the national point of contact, and coordinate with agencies like the Department of Transportation, the FCC, HHS’s Assistant Secretary for Aging, other DOJ offices including the Office on Violence Against Women, local broadcasters, and local law enforcement. Within 1 year after December 31, 2018, and every year after that, the coordinator must send Congress a report about their work and about how well State and Tribal Ashanti Alert plans are working. The report must list which States and Tribes have plans or are making plans. For each place with a plan, it must include, when available: how many alerts were issued, how many missing adults were found, the average time from alert to finding, which agency issues alerts and how they are spread, the cost to set up and run the plan, the criteria used to decide to issue an alert, and whether cases crossed State or Tribal borders. The report must also describe steps taken to protect privacy and dignity, how communication among families, caregivers, and authorities was improved, and any other relevant information the coordinator thinks is important.

Full Legal Text

Title 34, §21903

Navy, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)National coordinator within Department of Justice

The Attorney General shall designate an employee of the Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice to act as the national coordinator of the Ashanti Alert communications network.

(b)Duties of the Coordinator (c) Coordination

In acting as the national coordinator of the Ashanti Alert communications network, the Coordinator shall—

(1)work with States and Indian Tribes to encourage the development of additional Ashanti Alert plans in the network;

(2)establish voluntary guidelines for States and Indian Tribes to use in developing Ashanti Alert plans that will promote compatible and integrated Ashanti Alert plans throughout the United States, including—

(A)a list of the resources necessary to establish an Ashanti Alert plan;

(B)criteria for evaluating whether a situation warrants issuing an Ashanti Alert, taking into consideration the need for the use of Ashanti Alerts to be limited in scope because the effectiveness of the Ashanti Alert communications network may be affected by overuse, including criteria to determine—

(i)whether the mental capacity of an adult who is missing, and the circumstances of his or her disappearance, including any history of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, or human trafficking, warrant the issuance of an Ashanti Alert; and

(ii)whether the individual who reports that an adult is missing is an appropriate and credible source on which to base the issuance of an Ashanti Alert;

(C)a description of the appropriate uses of the Ashanti Alert name to readily identify the nature of search efforts for missing adults; and

(D)recommendations on how to protect the privacy, dignity, independence, autonomy, and safety of any missing adult who may be the subject of an Ashanti Alert;

(3)develop proposed protocols for efforts to recover missing adults and to reduce the number of adults who are reported missing, including protocols for procedures that are needed from the time of initial notification of a law enforcement agency that the adult is missing through the time of the return of the adult to family, guardian, or domicile, as appropriate, including—

(A)public safety communications protocol;

(B)case management protocol;

(C)command center operations;

(D)reunification protocol;

(E)incident review, evaluation, debriefing, and public information procedures; and

(F)protocols for declining to issue an Ashanti Alert;

(4)work with States and Indian Tribes to ensure appropriate regional coordination of various elements of the network;

(5)establish an advisory group to assist States, Indian Tribes, units of local government, law enforcement agencies, and other entities involved in the Ashanti Alert communications network with initiating, facilitating, and promoting Ashanti Alert plans, which shall include—

(A)to the maximum extent practicable, representation from the various geographic regions of the United States; and

(B)members who are—

(i)representatives of adult citizen advocacy groups, law enforcement agencies, victim service providers (as defined in section 12291(a) of this title), and public safety communications;

(ii)broadcasters, first responders, dispatchers, and radio station personnel; and

(iii)representatives of any other individuals or organizations that the Coordinator determines are necessary to the success of the Ashanti Alert communications network; and

(6)act as the nationwide point of contact for—

(A)the development of the network; and

(B)regional coordination of alerts for missing adults through the network.

(d)Annual reports

(1)In general

Not later than 1 year after December 31, 2018, and annually thereafter, the Coordinator shall submit to Congress a report on—

(A)the activities of the Coordinator; and

(B)the effectiveness and status of the Ashanti Alert plan of each State or Indian Tribe that has established or is in the process of establishing such a plan.

(2)Contents

Each report under paragraph (1) shall include—

(A)a list of each State or Indian Tribe that has established an Ashanti Alert plan;

(B)a list of each State or Indian Tribe that is in the process of establishing an Ashanti Alert plan;

(C)for each State or Indian Tribe that has established an Ashanti Alert plan, to the extent the data is available—

(i)the number of Ashanti Alerts issued;

(ii)the number of missing adults located successfully;

(iii)the average period of time between the issuance of an Ashanti Alert and the location of the missing adult for whom the Alert was issued;

(iv)the State or Tribal agency or authority issuing Ashanti Alerts, and the process by which Ashanti Alerts are disseminated;

(v)the cost of establishing and operating the Ashanti Alert plan;

(vi)the criteria used by the State or Indian Tribe to determine whether to issue an Ashanti Alert; and

(vii)the extent to which missing adults for whom Ashanti Alerts were issued crossed State lines or territorial borders of an Indian Tribe;

(D)actions States and Indian Tribes have taken to protect the privacy and dignity of the missing adults for whom Ashanti Alerts are issued;

(E)ways that States and Indian Tribes have facilitated and improved communication about missing adults between families, caregivers, law enforcement officials, and other authorities; and

(F)any other information the Coordinator determines to be appropriate.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

34 U.S.C. § 21903

Title 34, Navy

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110