March 15, 2024
House Bill 29 requires the Division of Criminal Investigation to develop and maintain a statewide cold case database and appropriates $150,000 from the general fund to the Office of the Attorney General for the period beginning on the act's effective date and ending June 30, 2026. Section 1 amends W.S. 9-1-624(a) by adding a new paragraph (vii), which defines a cold case as a homicide or felony sexual offense that remains unsolved two years or more after being reported to a law enforcement agency, requires the division to adopt rules specifying the information about each cold case to be collected from law enforcement agencies, and requires every law enforcement agency in the state to provide that information for any cold case committed or reported on or after January 1, 1972. Section 2 requires the Office of the Attorney General to promulgate implementing rules and to report to the joint judiciary interim committee by October 15, 2024 on the status of the database, including its development, operation, maintenance and information collection. Section 3(b) directs that the appropriation be spent first on developing the database, with any unexpended and unobligated funds then spent to investigate cold cases. Section 3(c) bars transfer of the appropriation, provides that unexpended funds revert on June 30, 2026, and states the legislature's intent that the Office of the Attorney General include the portion necessary for database maintenance in its standard budget request for the immediately succeeding fiscal biennium. The act took effect July 1, 2024.