Okla. Stat. tit. 74, § 74-151.3

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 74, § 74-151.3, part of Oklahoma’s Stat. tit. 74, — part of the compiled statutory law of Oklahoma, published by the state as "Stat. tit. 74,." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Unidentified persons – Missing persons – Data

Official statutory text

procedures.

A. As used in this section:

1. "Missing person" means any person, including a child under

eighteen (18) years of age, reported to Oklahoma law enforcement as

missing and unaccounted for from expected and normal activities; and

2. "Unidentified person" means any person living or deceased

who is unidentified after all available methods have been exhausted.

This includes any decedent released to the Office of the Chief

Medical Examiner (OCME) where the identity of the decedent cannot be

established to the satisfaction of the Chief Medical Examiner.

B. Unidentified Persons. The OCME and the Oklahoma State

Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) shall input the following data, if

available for unidentified persons, into the National Missing and

Unidentified Persons System (NamUs), created by the National

Institute of Justice of the United States Department of Justice:

1. Copies of fingerprints on standardized eight inch by eight

inch (8" x 8") fingerprint cards or the equivalent digital image;

prints or partial prints of any fingers;

2. Any forensic dental report or radiology imaging;

3. Detailed personal descriptions;

4. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) information;

5. Radiology imaging and medical data; and

6. All other identifying data, including date and place of

death.

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government Page 326

C. Missing Persons. Once a missing persons report is received,

the law enforcement agency shall initiate the following procedures

within thirty (30) days of receiving the report:

1. Submit the missing persons case to NamUs and to any database

of missing persons currently required by the agency, providing all

appropriate data;

2. Locate and obtain biometric records, including medical and

dental records, medical and dental X-rays or other medical imaging,

and enter the records into NamUs. All medical and dental records

obtained shall be considered confidential and shall not be released

to the public;

3. Utilize NamUs family reference sample (FRS) submission kits,

obtain voluntary DNA samples from appropriate family members to

submit to an institution of higher education that specializes in DNA

identification for a full genetic profile, including testing of

mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), short tandem repeats on the Y-chromosome

(Y-STR) and nuclear analyses, to be documented in the NamUs missing

persons file and submitted to the FBI's National DNA Index System

(NDIS) using the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). If necessary,

the law enforcement agency may request assistance in obtaining FRS

DNA samples; and

4. Attempt to locate any fingerprints from available resources

and submit those records to NamUs.

D. Upon request by local law enforcement, the OSBI shall

attempt to locate any fingerprints and photographs from the

available resources and submit those records to NamUs.

E. No Oklahoma law enforcement agency shall require a delay in

the taking of a report of a missing person when reliable information

has been provided to the law enforcement agency that the person is

missing. No law enforcement agency shall mandate the appearance of

a next of kin before initiating a missing persons investigation.

F. If the OSBI receives a report of a missing person from

another law enforcement agency or medical examiner, the OSBI shall

maintain a record of the case file. The OSBI shall promulgate rules

relating to the dissemination and retention of the records. The

rules shall require that the process of releasing the records shall

occur as soon as practicable from the time the OSBI receives a

report that a person, for whom there is a previous record, is

missing.

G. The information contained in the missing persons files of

the OSBI shall be available to the OCME and law enforcement agencies

attempting to identify unidentified persons.

H. No law enforcement agency shall establish or maintain any

policy which requires the observance of a waiting period before
me the OSBI receives a

report that a person, for whom there is a previous record, is

missing.

G. The information contained in the missing persons files of

the OSBI shall be available to the OCME and law enforcement agencies

attempting to identify unidentified persons.

H. No law enforcement agency shall establish or maintain any

policy which requires the observance of a waiting period before

accepting and investigating a missing child report. Upon receipt of

a report of a missing child, a law enforcement agency shall enter

the child into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) pursuant

Oklahoma Statutes - Title 74. State Government Page 327

to a mandate by the Federal Bureau of Investigation which requires

the name of the missing child to be entered within two (2) hours

from the time the child is reported missing to the law enforcement

agency.

I. When a person previously reported missing has been found or

when an unidentified person has been identified, the reporting

agency or OCME shall report to NamUs within twenty-four (24) hours

that the person has been found and that the case can be archived

within NamUs.

J. Nothing in this section prohibits a law enforcement agency

or the OCME from maintaining case files related to missing persons

or unidentified bodies.

K. Nothing in this section supersedes the authority of the OCME

to obtain dental or medical records, including X-rays, in cases in

which these records are necessary for the identification of human

remains.

L. The Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training

(CLEET) shall establish appropriate training resources focused on

the investigations of unidentified and missing persons and shall

require all CLEET-certified law enforcement officers to complete

such training on a regular basis to be determined by CLEET. Such

training may be conducted in conjunction with resources available

through NamUs.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.