Montana Code Annotated
Part 4. Missing Persons -- Unidentified Bodies
44-2-401. Missing persons -- dental records

44-2-401. Missing persons -- dental records. (1) Any person who reports a missing person to a police department, sheriff's office, or other law enforcement authority must be given a form, supplied by the department of justice, that authorizes the release of the dental records of the missing person. The form must state that if the person is still missing 30 days after the report was made, the form may be signed by a relative of the missing person and taken to the dentist of the missing person, who shall release the dental records or copies of the records to the relative. The records must be submitted by the relative within the next 10 days to the law enforcement authority to which the missing person report was made.
(2) If the missing person has not been found within 30 days after the report was made and no relative exists or can be located, the law enforcement authority may execute a signed written declaration stating that an investigation into the location of the missing person is being conducted and that the dental records may be necessary to the investigation. A dentist shall release the missing person's dental records upon presentation of the declaration.
(3) If a person reported missing has not been found within 45 days after the report was made, the law enforcement authority conducting the investigation shall confer with the county coroner or state medical examiner and write a missing person report on a form supplied by the department of justice. The report and any dental records or copies of the records obtained under this section must be submitted to the department of justice.
(4) The department of justice shall maintain an information file concerning each person reported to it as missing. The file must include information received under this section and any other information the department considers relevant to locating the missing person.
(5) The department files must be made available to any law enforcement agency attempting to locate missing persons.
(6) A law enforcement authority that finds a missing person or is notified that a missing person has been found shall notify the department of justice, which shall return all dental records to the dentist and destroy the file prepared under subsection (4) concerning the person.
History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 389, L. 1983; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 36, L. 2005.

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