Georgia CommonsHouse · Engrossed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 465: Autism Missing Person Alert System Act; enact
Last action March 6, 2025 · Senate Read and Referred
House Bill 465 would expand Georgia's 'Mattie's Call' missing persons alert system to cover people with autism spectrum disorder, adding waterway search priorities and other tailored alert requirements.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Comm Sub version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
Georgia's 'Mattie's Call' alert system (O.C.G.A. Title 35, Chapter 3, Article 7) currently helps locate missing disabled adults and medically endangered people. This bill adds people with autism spectrum disorder to the list of people the alert system covers, and it defines autism spectrum disorder as a developmental disorder involving social interaction difficulties, communication challenges, and restricted or repetitive behaviors. The bill also requires that whenever the alert system activates for a missing person with autism spectrum disorder, law enforcement must prioritize searching waterways like lakes, rivers, pools, and ditches, advise the public to check roadways, describe the missing person clearly, give a last known location, and share behaviors linked to autism that could help identify the person. It also updates the elopement reporting rule for personal care homes and assisted living communities to include people with autism spectrum disorder, requiring staff to call police within 30 minutes of learning such a person is missing.
What the bill does
- Adds people with autism spectrum disorder as a covered category under Georgia's 'Mattie's Call' missing persons alert system.
- Defines 'autism spectrum disorder' in the law as a developmental disorder marked by social, communication, and behavioral challenges.
- Requires that alerts for missing people with autism spectrum disorder direct law enforcement to prioritize searching waterways such as lakes, rivers, pools, and ditches.
- Requires those alerts to also tell the public to check roadways, describe the missing person, give a last known location, and note relevant autism-related behaviors.
- Expands the 30-minute elopement reporting requirement for personal care homes and assisted living communities to include residents with autism spectrum disorder.
Who it affects
People with autism spectrum disorder and their families, local and state law enforcement agencies that run the alert system, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, personal care homes and assisted living communities, and media and commercial partners who help distribute alerts.
Why it matters
Families of missing people with autism spectrum disorder would gain access to a formal state alert system, and search efforts would be required to focus on waterways, a known risk area for wandering individuals with autism, potentially speeding up recovery efforts and improving safety outcomes.
Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 35-3-171 to add persons with autism spectrum disorder to the alert system's definitions and defines the condition in law.
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 35-3-172 to require the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to activate the alert system on behalf of persons with autism spectrum disorder, alongside disabled adults and medically endangered persons.
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 35-3-174 to require personal care home and assisted living staff to call local police within 30 minutes if a person with autism spectrum disorder goes missing from the facility.
- Section 1 adds a new subsection (c) to O.C.G.A. § 35-3-178 requiring alerts for missing people with autism spectrum disorder to prioritize waterway searches, alert the public about roadways, describe the person, give their last known location, and note distinctive behaviors.
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. §§ 35-3-176, 35-3-177, and 35-3-179 to extend activation, verification, and termination procedures of the alert system to cover missing persons with autism spectrum disorder.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Issue guidance to local law enforcement agencies engaged in a search for the missing person to prioritize waterways, including lakes, rivers, pools, ditches, and other potential water sources”
“'Autism spectrum disorder' means a developmental disorder characterized by difficulties with social interaction, communication challenges, and restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior.”
Status timeline
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)
- House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Carl Gilliard (D, HD-162)
- Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
- Yasmin Neal (D, HD-79)
- Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)
- Dexter Sharper (D, HD-177)
- Long Tran (D, HD-80)
Votes
- House voteMarch 4, 2025
172 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- Mattie's Call alert system
- autism spectrum disorder
- missing persons
- public safety
- disability services