TRACE Act
Engrossed in SenateSep 2, 2025

TRACE Act

10 sections · 1 min read

Section 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Tracking and Reporting Absent Community-Members Everywhere Act or the TRACE Act.

Section 2. Definitions

In this Act:

(1) Attorney General

The term Attorney General means the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Justice.

(2) Federal land

The term Federal land means land owned by the United States that is under the administrative jurisdiction of—

(A) the Secretary of Agriculture;

(B) the Secretary of the Interior (except land held in trust for the benefit of an Indian Tribe); or

(C) the Secretary of Defense only with respect to land and water resources projects administered by the Corps of Engineers.

(3) Territorial waters of the United States

The term territorial waters of the United States means all waters of the territorial sea of the United States, 12 nautical miles wide, adjacent to the coast of the United States and seaward of the territorial baseline, as described in Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 1988.

Section 3. Data field in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System related to Federal land and territorial waters

The Attorney General shall include in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System a data field to indicate whether the last known location of the missing person was confirmed or was suspected to have been on Federal land or in the territorial waters of the United States, including any specific location details about the unit of Federal land or the area of the territorial waters of the United States that was the last known location of the missing person.

Section 4. Report

Not later than January 15 of the second calendar year that begins after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Attorney General shall submit to the Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate and the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives a report that contains, for the previous calendar year, the number of cases in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System for which the missing person’s last known location was confirmed or was suspected to have been on Federal land or in the territorial waters of the United States.

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