HB4 Alabama 2012 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Juandalynn GivanRepresentative

Democrat

Session

Regular Session 2012

Title

Children, failure to report a missing child in the first degree and in the second degree, failure to report the death of a child, false reporting to law enforcement authorities, crimes of established, Caylee's Law, Sec. 13A-10-9 am'd. (2012-20240)

Summary

HB4 (Caylee's Law) would criminalize failing to report missing or dead children and false reporting to police, with defined penalties and terms.

What This Bill Does

It creates new crimes: custodians of a child 12 or younger could be guilty of a Class B felony if they fail to report a missing child within 24 hours and harm occurs; custodians could be guilty of a Class C felony for failing to report a death of a child within four hours. It also makes false reporting to law enforcement in missing child or related investigations a Class C felony, and it changes false reporting in the second degree to a Class A misdemeanor. The bill defines key terms (child, custodian, missing child) and notes exemptions for certain reporting scenarios; it also sets an effective date about three months after passage.

Who It Affects

• Parents, guardians, and other custodians of children age 12 or younger (subject to the reporting deadlines and penalties).
• Law enforcement agencies and investigators handling missing child or related crime investigations (subject to the new reporting requirements and penalties).
• Health care providers, coroners, and licensed funeral directors (exemptions and interactions with reporting rules).
• The general public, as individuals could be charged for false information if they knowingly mislead investigations.

Key Provisions

• Section 3: Failure to report a missing child (for custodians of a child 12 or younger) is a Class B felony if 24-hour reporting is not done after learning the child is missing and harm occurs while missing.
• Section 4: Failure to report the death of a child (for custodians of a child 12 or younger) is a Class C felony if reporting to law enforcement is not made within four hours of learning of the death or discovery of the body, with certain exemptions.
• Section 5: False reporting to law enforcement authorities in the first degree is a Class C felony when a person knowingly provides false information during a missing person or related child investigation.
• Section 6: Amends false reporting to law enforcement authorities in the second degree to a Class A misdemeanor.
• Section 7: The bill is exempt from certain local funding requirements under Amendment 621 because it defines a new crime or amends an existing one.
• Section 8: Effective date is the first day of the third month after the bill passes and is approved.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 24, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.

Subjects

Crimes and Offenses