The Oregon House Judiciary
Committee passed HB 2601 as amended
today, sending the bill to the floor with a DO PASS recommendation.
State Representative Barbara
Smith Warner will carry the bill on the House floor.
This is the second of two
2015 child abduction bills that stem from Senator Avel Gordly ’s landmark SB
1041 (2005), now ORS 30.868 in
statute.
HB 2603,
naming ORS 30.868 “Aaron’s Law” for my late son Aaron Cruz, has already passed
the House on a unanimous 59-0 vote, and is in Senate Judiciary.
Both bills are sponsored by Representative Smith Warner.
Aaron Cruz
HB 2601 requires
local law enforcement to notify the Oregon State Police within 24 hours of
having probable cause to believe that a violation of either Kidnapping I or II,
or Custodial Interference I or II has taken place (is taking place).
There is currently no
reporting requirement, and law enforcement can be slow to respond if a parent
or family member is abducting the child.
It was gratifying to see
that local law enforcement saw no barriers to complying with the requirement
and that it treats all kidnappings alike, regardless of who the abductor(s)
is(are).
The 24-hour notice
requirement for probable cause of a child abduction should effectively remove
the barrier to law enforcement response that the lack of a definition of the
word “protracted” in the ORS creates.
With HB 2601, local law
enforcement won’t have to parse the definition of “protracted” anymore. That
will be up to the courts to decide.
Before SB 1041 passed in
2005, there were only the criminal and family law paths, and among them no
common definition, no measurement of time that defines “protracted”.
Now, with ORS 30.868 on the
books—and knowing that every precious second that your child is in the hands of
his or her kidnapper and away from you is time destroyed forever—there will be
an opportunity for kidnapping victims to measure time in civil court.
I am grateful for the work of
Kevin Campbell and Craig Campbell of Victory Group and the Oregon Association of
Chiefs of Police as well as the Oregon State Police for their support and for dialing
in the language in the amendment.
Sean Aaron Cruz
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