A Missouri Senate committee debated two bills Monday, one that would create a statewide alert system and another focused on children’s safety in school zones.
The Senate Committee on Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety voted unanimously to pass legislation that would establish an alert system, similar to Amber or Silver alerts, for missing persons with certain disabilities. The committee also heard but didn’t vote on House Bill 2742, a bill that seeks to make penalties more severe for school bus stop arm violations.
State Rep. Sherri Gallick, a Republican from Belton, sponsored the bill because of the death of a 4-year-old autistic child who wandered away from home. When the child went missing, an Amber Alert couldn’t be issued because it was clear he wasn’t kidnapped.
The Purple Alert System, introduced in Gallick’s bill, seeks to notify the public when an individual of any age with intellectual or developmental disabilities goes missing. The population it encompasses does not include individuals over 60 with Alzheimer’s or dementia and those with substance abuse-related disabilities.
The system would build off of Missouri’s existing alert system and is expected to be implemented next summer if passed. The bill previously included an emergency clause that would jumpstart system development, but Gallick said it had been removed.
“The House floor voted in favor of the emergency clause, 143 to 8,” said Danielle Rocha, a witness who testified in favor of the bill. “The sooner we can implement this law, the sooner we can intervene in elopement cases, and drive down the statistics of losing loved ones.”
The other bill, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Mike Jones of Kansas City, would allow courts to impose harsher punishments for stop arm violations. These violations occur when a driver passes a stopped school bus with its sign out that is either loading or unloading students. The offense currently results in a Class A misdemeanor.
The bill would allow courts to impose a minimum fine of $500 for a driver’s first stop arm violation. Second and third violations would further increase fines and suspend the offender’s license for up to six months.
“(This bill) ensures the law is taken seriously so that children at the bus stop are protected,” Jones said.
Jones added that the Platte County School District near Kansas City has recorded a total of 163 stop arm violations since the school year began.
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It can be republished in print or online.