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Cell phone tracking bill currently before Gov. Nixon

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Among the more than 110 bills passed by Missouri lawmakers this year is one designed to help law enforcement officers track a missing person through the potential victim’s cell phone signal.

If signed by Governor Nixon, the bill would require cell phone companies to provide police with the location of any customer who’s been reported missing or believed to be in danger.  The sponsor, GOP House Member Jeanie Lauer of Blue Springs, says it’s in response to the 2007 kidnapping and murder of Kelsey Smith in the Kansas City area.

“Her father, who actually is a police officer, was not able to get the cell phone providers to provide that information at the time…by the time they actually were able to find her she was already dead,” Lauer said.

The bill would also shield cell phone service providers from lawsuits over the release of a customer’s location in emergency situations.  If the governor signs it, it would take effect August 28th.
 

Missouri Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a proud alumnus of the University of Mississippi (a.k.a., Ole Miss), and has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Mason, and their cat, Honey.