Bill giving police access to cellphone location data passes Alabama House

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The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill requiring wireless companies in the state to hand over location data to law enforcement agencies upon request, in an emergency situation involving a risk of death or serious bodily harm.

Scottsboro-Republican state Rep. Tommy Hanes introduced HB5: the Kelsey Smith Act, which passed 95-0.

The legislation is named after Smith, a Kansas teen who was abducted in broad daylight in the parking lot of a Target store and ultimately raped and murdered in June 2007.

It was four days between the time she disappeared to the time her cell phone location information was released, and her body was found by the police.

The states that have the system in place already have reported several “saves,” where people that have been saved from the use of the law.

The Kelsey Smith Act is currently law in 22 other states across the country.

  1. Kansas: April 17, 2009
  2. New Jersey: January 29, 2010
  3. Nebraska: March 17, 2010
  4. Minnesota: May 13, 2010
  5. New Hampshire: July 13, 2010
  6. North Dakota: April 8, 2011
  7. Tennessee: April 26, 2012
  8. Hawaii: April 30, 2012
  9. Missouri:  July 6, 2012
  10. Pennsylvania: October 22, 2014
  11. Utah: March 27, 2013
  12.  West Virginia: April 12, 2013
  13. Colorado: May 13, 2013
  14. Nevada: May 23, 2013
  15. Rhode Island: July 15, 2013
  16. Oregon: March 6, 2014
  17. Arkansas: March 13, 2015
  18. Iowa: May 1, 2015
  19.  Washington: May 7, 2015
  20. Louisiana: June 23, 2015
  21. Delaware: August 7, 2015
  22. Indiana: March 21, 2016

The bill next goes to the Alabama Senate for debate.