To direct the Attorney General to include a data field in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System to indicate whether the last known location of a missing person was confirmed or was suspected to have been on Federal land, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Passed SenateReported by Mr. Grassley, with an amendment
Passed Senate (inferred from es version)
Mr. Tillis (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Blumenthal, …
Mr. Tillis (for himself, Mr. Padilla, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Blumenthal, …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The TRACE Act requires the Attorney General to improve tracking of missing persons who disappear on Federal lands or in U.S. territorial waters. It adds a new data field to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System to record whether a missing person's last known location was on Federal property (national parks, forests, Corps of Engineers projects) or in U.S. territorial waters (up to 12 nautical miles from shore), and requires annual reports to Congress on these cases.
Who Benefits and How
Families of missing persons on Federal lands or in territorial waters benefit from better tracking and visibility of these cases. Congressional oversight committees (Senate and House Judiciary) receive annual data that could inform policy decisions about search and rescue resources. Advocacy groups for missing persons gain better data to identify patterns and gaps in Federal response.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of Justice, specifically the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System administrators, must implement the new data tracking system and compile annual reports starting two years after enactment. Federal land management agencies (USDA Forest Service, Department of Interior, Army Corps of Engineers) and Coast Guard/maritime law enforcement agencies face increased compliance burden in reporting cases to the DOJ system. The bill expanded during its development to include territorial waters, increasing the scope of reporting requirements.
Key Provisions
- Creates a mandatory data field in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System to flag cases where the last known location was Federal land or territorial waters, including specific location details
- Defines "Federal land" as property under USDA, DOI (excluding tribal trust lands), or DOD (Corps of Engineers projects only) jurisdiction
- Defines "territorial waters" as the 12-nautical-mile zone from the U.S. coastline
- Requires the Attorney General (through the National Institute of Justice Director) to submit annual reports to Congress beginning in the second year after enactment
- Reports must include the total number of missing persons cases where Federal land or territorial waters was the last known location
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Requires the Attorney General to track missing persons cases where the last known location was on Federal land or territorial waters, and report this data annually to Congress.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Improve tracking and data collection for missing persons cases on Federal lands and territorial waters, enabling better analysis and potential policy responses to missing persons on Federal property"
Likely Beneficiaries
- Law enforcement agencies tracking missing persons
- Families of missing persons on Federal lands
- Federal land management agencies (USDA, DOI, DOD)
- Congressional oversight committees (Senate and House Judiciary)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Department of Justice / National Institute of Justice (implementation and reporting burden)
- National Missing and Unidentified Persons System administrators (data field addition and management)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_attorney_general"
- → Attorney General, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Justice
- "the_secretary_of_defense"
- → Secretary of Defense (Corps of Engineers land and water resources projects)
- "the_secretary_of_interior"
- → Secretary of the Interior (Federal land jurisdiction, excluding tribal trust land)
- "the_secretary_of_agriculture"
- → Secretary of Agriculture (Federal land jurisdiction)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Land owned by the United States under administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of the Interior (except land held in trust for Indian Tribes), or Secretary of Defense (only for Corps of Engineers land and water resources projects)
The Attorney General, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Justice
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
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology