Mississippi Legislature Establishes New Purple Alert for Missing Persons with Mental or Cognitive Disabilities

JACKSON, Miss. –The Mississippi Legislature established a new Purple Alert during this year’s session to aid families and law enforcement in locating missing persons with mental or cognitive disabilities.

Purple Alerts join a public notification system operated by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation through the Department of Public Safety. This system includes Amber Alerts for missing or abducted children and Silver Alerts for persons with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Local law enforcement agencies can activate a Purple Alert.

The Purple Alerts are specifically for missing persons with an intellectual or developmental disability, a brain injury, or another physical, mental, or emotional disability not related to substance abuse, Alzheimer’s, or dementia.

If a Purple Alert is necessary, local law enforcement must notify the media and alert subscribers in the area where the missing person may be located. The agency must also report the person missing to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.

Similar legislation has been passed in Florida and Maryland. Florida’s system was established in 2022, and Maryland’s was approved this year.

State Rep. Clay Mansell authored the new law. It passed both chambers unanimously and was signed by Governor Tate Reeves in April. It goes into effect on July 1.

This article originally appeared in the Magnolia Tribune and is republished here under fair use.