Dept. Of Corrections Could Soon Send 'Orange Alerts' For Escaped Prisoners

The state House has voted in favor of a bill that would notify people of prison escapees.

The "Orange Alert" would allow the Department of Corrections to issue cell phone alerts similar to the Amber Alert to everyone living within 40 miles of the facility from which the prisoner escaped. The bill's author, Representative Anthony Moore, says the idea and draft language came from a high school senior following her own experience of living near a prison where someone escaped.

The bill has gone to the Senate for consideration.