Certain missing-person alerts would use the name Joshua Alert

A statewide emergency alert program would help law enforcement and state officials locate certain missing people. The program covers people who may have a mental impairment, autism spectrum disorder, another developmental disability, or who are at least 65 years old, and who cannot return home without help. The person must be missing or believed to be missing in Ohio, and the location must be unknown to someone familiar with the person. A law enforcement agency must find a credible threat of immediate serious bodily harm or death. There must be enough information about the person and disappearance for an alert to help locate the person. Local or regional alert programs may use different activation rules. The statewide program may be implemented only when every listed activation condition is met.

A local investigating law enforcement agency would generally not have to notify the statewide alert program during the first 24 hours after receiving qualifying information. The rule applies to information meeting the statewide activation criteria, with a special rule for people under 18 who have autism spectrum disorder or another developmental disability. For a person under 18 with autism spectrum disorder or another developmental disability, the agency must notify the statewide program as soon as the qualifying information is verified. The general 24-hour rule does not prevent a local or regional alert from being activated under different local or regional criteria. The general notification exception covers the first 24 hours after the agency receives the information; the special child notification applies as soon as the information is verified.

An alert issued under the special child-notification rule would be known as a Joshua Alert. This name applies to an alert issued under the rule for a person under 18 who has autism spectrum disorder or another developmental disability. The local investigating law enforcement agency must have information meeting the statewide activation criteria. The qualifying information must be verified before the agency sends the notification under the special rule. The name applies when the qualifying alert is issued under the special notification rule.