SPRINGFIELD, Ill. • National spotlight on Casey Anthony's murder trial in Florida may not have led to a conviction last summer, but it has inspired potential legislation in both Illinois and Missouri regarding parental responsibilities.
After Anthony reportedly waited 31 days to tell authorities her 2-year old daughter, Caylee Anthony, was missing, lawmakers around the country began to craft legislation that would put a deadline on how long parents have to report a missing child.
Illinois and Missouri joined states including Florida, New York, Oklahoma and West Virginia in pushing legislation that would result in criminal charges if parents did not report missing children within a 24-hour deadline.
Illinois state Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, has filed legislation proposing that parents or legal guardians failing to report a child under the age of 13 missing within a 24-hour period will be charged with a class 4 felony, facing one to three years in prison and fines up to $25,000.
Missouri state Rep. Billy Pat Wright, R-Dexter, filed legislation early this year that would charge parents failing to report a missing child within 24 hours with a Class A misdemeanor, facing up to one year in jail and up to $1000 in fines.
"Protecting children is one of the most important things we can do as legislators," Franks said.
Franks said his office received a significant number of calls last summer during the Anthony murder trial, which moved him to file the legislation in August.
Franks said his office is fixing language of the bill to address concerns that the legislation doesn't account for, like misunderstandings, for example, "if a child went off to camp for a month" and there was some explainable reason the parent didn't know. He will be discussing the bill in committee next week.
Currently, only one state has passed a legal 24-hour deadline on parents who are reporting a missing child. New Jersey passed legislation almost identical to Franks' proposed legislation early this year.
The Illinois bill is HB3804 and the Missouri bill is HB1167.
