Legislation requiring the Amber Alert System Oversight Committee to meet at least annually has been approved by a Missouri House committee.
The Missouri House Crime Prevention Committee has voted 8-0 to approve State Rep. Curtis Trent’s (R-Springfield) bill. He tells Missourinet the bill is expected to be in front of the consent committee on Tuesday.
The current law says the committee should “regularly review” the Amber Alert System, but does not specify what “regularly” means. Trent’s bill is known as “Hailey’s Law”: it is named after 10-year-old Hailey Owens, who was kidnapped, raped and murdered in Springfield in February 2014.
Hailey’s mother and the suspect’s family support the bill and have urged lawmakers to streamline the Amber Alert System.
Craig Wood is charged with first degree murder, kidnapping, rape and sodomy and is scheduled to go on trial in Greene County on October 23.