Attachment 3 – 2020 Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems
(Survey Instrument)
OMB No. [Number]: Approval Expires [Date]
Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems, 2020
Since 1989, the Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems has been used to collect the nation’s most complete, comprehensive and relevant data on the number and status of state-maintained criminal history records and on the increasing number of operations and services involving noncriminal justice background checks provided by the state repositories. This data collection is supported by Cooperative Agreement No. 2019-RU-BX-K001 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Please note: Completion of the survey is voluntary; however, doing so is a special condition placed on all National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) and NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP) awards.
If you use the online survey tool, accessible at http://www.searchgroup.org/surveys/repository/, to enter 2020 data, you can view previously submitted 2018 data for comparison purposes. Where applicable, your state’s 2018 responses are displayed in color within each section of the online survey. It is hoped that this information will help you complete the survey more accurately and efficiently. The cover letter provides the password to gain access to your state’s online survey. Direct your questions or comments to SEARCH staff Dennis DeBacco at 775-412-1950 or [email protected].
If it is more convenient, you may request a PDF copy of the survey, complete it manually, and fax (916-392-8440) or e-mail it to the attention of Dennis DeBacco at [email protected]. The deadline for survey submission is [date].
The survey is divided into five sections. You may submit each section independently and not necessarily in the order presented. This is done so that different people on your repository’s staff may submit the data for which they are responsible. Repository directors are responsible to see that the survey is submitted in its entirety. Please note the following:
All reported data should be for calendar year 2020, or as of December 31, 2020.
The term “felony” includes any crime classified as a felony under your state’s laws. These offenses are generally punishable by a term of incarceration in excess of one year. If your state’s laws do not use the term “felony,” please substitute functional equivalents, such as class 1, 2, 3 and 4 offenses in New Jersey and class A, B and C offenses in Maine.
Questions that seek responses based on a “legal requirement” refer only to a state statute or a state administrative regulation having the force of law.
If additional space is needed, please use the “Additional Comments” area at the end of each section.
Please use the “Additional Comments” area at the end of each section to provide explanatory notes for responses that require explanation or when “no data is available,” and to describe significant changes between the current response and data reported in the 2018 survey.
If a question is not applicable to your repository, please note the question number and indicate “NA” in the “Additional Comments” area at the end of each section.
Burden Statement
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, we cannot ask you to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. The survey will be sent to criminal history repositories in 56 jurisdictions, including the 50 States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The average time required for each agency to complete the survey is estimated at 6.5 hours. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this survey, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics, 810 Seventh Street, NW, Washington DC 20531. Do not send your completed form to this address.
SECTION I: REPOSITORY
This section completed by
Name ________________________________ Title ________________________________
Agency _____________________________________________________________________
Phone ________________________________ Email _______________________________
Date completed ________________________ |
The following questions relate to descriptions of your state’s criminal history record information and master name index databases:
How many subjects (individual criminal offenders) were in your criminal history file as of December 31, 2020?
Automated
records __________________ (include subjects whose records
are partially automated)
Manual
records __________________
Total records __________________ (a+b)
Fingerprints processed in 2020:
Percentage of
Purpose Number 2020 volume Totals
Criminal
(retained) ___________ _________%
Criminal (not
retained) ___________ _________% (a+b) _____________
Noncriminal
(retained) ___________ _________%
Noncriminal
(not retained) ___________ _________% (c+d) _____________
What was the total number of fingerprint-based
background checks conducted during 2020? (a+b+c+d) ___________
(a) Do you have felony conviction flagging (i.e., does your criminal history record database include a data field or flag enabling you to quickly determine whether a given record subject has a felony conviction)?
Yes, all subjects with felony convictions
Yes, some subjects with felony convictions
No
(b) Does your state’s criminal history record employ flagging to indicate the following? (Check all that apply.)
Sex offender registrant
Violent offender
Misdemeanor domestic violence conviction that would exclude someone from purchasing a firearm
Active protection order on file with state justice information system and/or NCIC
Active warrant on file with state justice information system and/or NCIC
Mental health adjudication
DNA available
IFFS, indicating ineligible for firearms purchase under federal law
IFFS, indicating ineligible for firearms purchase under state law
Other (describe)
(c) Does your state’s criminal history repository employ an Interstate Identification Index (III) multi-state record indicator flag?
Yes No
(d) If yes, as of December 31, 2020, how many subjects in your state’s criminal history records database have out-of-state records? ____________
The following questions refer to repository administration, procedures and practices.
(a) As of December 31, 2020, did your repository conduct “lights out” processing of fingerprints (an identification decision is made without fingerprint technician intervention)? If no, skip to question 5.
Yes No
(b) What percentage of fingerprints was
handled with “lights out” processing? __________
%
(c) What percentage of criminal
fingerprints
was handled with “lights out”
processing? __________ %
What percentage of noncriminal applicant
fingerprints
was handled with “lights out” processing? __________ %
(a) Does your state maintain a protection order file? If no, skip to question 6.
Yes No
(b) How many active records were in the state protection order record database as of December 31, 2020?
records
(c) In 2020, what was the average time elapsed between the issuance of a protection order and entry of the information into the state protection order file?
1 day or less
2–7 days
8–30 days
More than 30 days
(d) Are protection orders entered onto the FBI-NCIC Protection Order File? If no, skip to question 6.
Yes No
(e) In 2020, what was the average time elapsed between the issuance of a protection order and entry of the information into the FBI-NCIC Protection Order File?
1 day or less
2–7 days
8–30 days
More than 30 days
(a) Does your state maintain a warrant file? If no, skip to question 7.
Yes No
(b) In 2020, what was the average time elapsed between the issuance of a warrant and entry of the information into the state warrant file?
1 day or less
2–7 days
8–30 days
More than 30 days
N/A – State does not maintain a warrant file
(c) How many records were in the state warrant database as of December 31, 2020?
records
(d) Of this total, indicate the number of:
Felony warrants
Misdemeanor warrants
Other (explain)
(e) In 2020, what was the average time elapsed between the issuance of a warrant and entry of the information into the FBI-NCIC Wanted Person file?
1 day or less
2–7 days
8–30 days
More than 30 days
7. In addition to criminal history information, to what other records does your state’s repository provide access? (Check all that apply.)
Sex offender registry
Orders of protection
Wanted persons/warrants
Retained applicant prints
Firearm registration
Domestic violence incident reports
Other (specify)
8. (a) Does your repository conduct routine internal data quality audits? If no, skip to question 9.
Yes No
(b) How frequently?
More than once per year
Annually
Every 2 years
Every 3 years
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
9. (a) Does your repository conduct routine external data quality audits of contributing agencies? (E.g., inspecting samples of records maintained to determine if they have been submitted to the repository and/or checking to see if the information housed by the repository matches that maintained by contributing agencies.) If no, skip to question 10.
Yes No
(b) How frequently?
More than once per year
Annually
Every 2 years
Every 3 years
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
10. (a) Does your agency have any CCH performance reporting tools (dashboards, reports, etc.) that enable you and your staff to regularly monitor submissions by contributing agencies (e.g., courts, prosecutors and corrections)?
Yes No
(b) If yes, which metrics do you monitor? (Check all that apply.)
Number of arrests reported by agency
Arrests that are missing dispositions
Time from arrest to disposition
Number of dispositions reported by law enforcement agencies
Number of dispositions reported by prosecutors
Number of dispositions reported by courts
Dispositions that cannot be linked to a corresponding arrest
Date of disposition to when it is reported to the state repository
11. (a) Does your agency send reports of missing arrests and/or dispositions to contributing agencies? (Check all that apply.)
Yes No
(b) If yes, which agencies? (Check all that apply.)
Law enforcement agencies
Prosecutors
Courts
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
12. (a) Does your agency make data quality metrics available to contributing agencies (e.g., dashboards showing missing arrests and dispositions, number of records submitted and rejected, etc.)? (Check all that apply.)
Yes No
(b) If yes, which agencies? (Check all that apply.)
Law enforcement agencies
Prosecutors
Courts
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
SECTION
II: ARREST/FINGERPRINT
REPORTING, RECORD ENTRY AND REMOVAL
This section completed by
Name ________________________________ Title ________________________________
Agency _____________________________________________________________________
Phone ________________________________ Email _______________________________
Date completed ________________________ |
How many felony arrests were reported to your repository during calendar year 2020?
____________ arrests
How many arrest fingerprints were submitted to your repository during 2020? (a+b+c = d)
_________________ via livescan
_________________ via cardscan
_________________ hard copy fingerprints
_________________ = total arrest fingerprints
(a) As of December 31, 2020, was there a backlog of arrest fingerprint cards to be entered into the AFIS database (i.e., not entered within 48 hours of receipt at repository)? If no, skip to question 4.
Yes No
(b) How many arrest fingerprint cards were backlogged?
Size of arrest fingerprint card backlog as of December 31, 2020, is not available
(c) What is the age of the backlogged arrest information?
For the year ending on December 31, 2020, what percentage of arrest fingerprint records received by the repository were rejected for poor quality? ______________ %
Mobile technology
(a) Are agencies in your state using mobile technology to transmit fingerprints for identification purposes?
Yes No
(b) Are agencies in your state using mobile technology to transmit fingerprints for booking purposes?
Yes No
(c) Do you have plans to implement mobile technology that captures non-fingerprint biometric information?
Yes No
Question 5(d) addresses Rapid ID technology, which enables authorized users to instantly search local, state and federal AFIS databases to confirm the identity of a person via fingerprints captured using mobile or tethered fingerprint devices, and to query various criminal justice databases for additional information about the individual. Rapid ID searches, for example, can include criminal history record information, outstanding warrants, sex offender status, probation and parole supervision status, caution indicators, and mugshots.
(d) Does your state employ Rapid ID? If no, skip to question 6.
Yes No
Number of searches conducted in 2020 _______________
Number of hits in 2020 _______________
6. Law enforcement agency submissions
(a) Number of law enforcement agencies that submit arrest prints
via
livescan (including agencies without livescan devices that
receive livescan services from agencies that do have that
equipment, such as a sheriff that provides booking services
for multiple local police departments) _____________
(b) Number of agencies that submit arrest fingerprints via cardscan _____________
(c) Number of agencies that submit hard copy arrest fingerprint cards _____________
(d) Percentage of arrest prints submitted via livescan during 2020 ___________ %
Do local law enforcement agencies in your state routinely cite and release individuals without fingerprinting? This includes issuance of a notice to appear when a person is charged with a crime, but is not fingerprinted prior to a court appearance.
Yes, only for violations
Yes, for both violations and misdemeanors
Yes, for all criminal offenses, including felonies
No (skip to question 9)
If local law enforcement agencies in your state routinely cite and release individuals without fingerprinting, is there a law or policy requiring the courts to order persons who have not been fingerprinted to do so prior to or after an initial court hearing?
Yes, by law (Check all that apply.)
only for violations
for both violations and misdemeanors
for all criminal offenses, including felonies
Yes, by policy or administrative rule (Check all that apply.)
only for violations
for both violations and misdemeanors
for all criminal offenses, including felonies
Does your state have a statewide criminal citation file? (Note: this does not include traffic citation files.)
Yes
Number of criminal citations contained in file as of December 31, 2020 _______
Number of citation records added to file during 2020 ________
No
10. (a) Upon receiving a Death Certificate from an authorized source, does your repository remove a decedent’s criminal history record from your state’s criminal history file?
Yes No
(b) If yes, how many deceased persons records were removed from your state’s criminal history records database in 2020? ____________
(c) Are fingerprints of the decedent required before a record can be removed?
Yes No
11. (a) Does your state repository purge its criminal history database of records when the subject of the record reaches a certain age (e.g., 99 years old)?
Yes No
(b) If yes, at what age? ____________
(c) Is there a requirement to determine if an age-qualified subject has had new information recently posted to his/her criminal history record that would cause the record to remain on file regardless of the record subject’s age? (E.g., new information posted within 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, etc.)
Yes No
(d) How many records of age-qualified subjects were purged from your criminal history file in 2020? ____________
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
SECTION III: DISPOSITIONS
This section completed by
Name ________________________________ Title ________________________________
Agency _____________________________________________________________________
Phone ________________________________ Email _______________________________
Date completed ________________________ |
The
following questions seek to determine to what extent the records in
your criminal history record database contain final case disposition
information. (“Final case disposition” is defined as the
formal or informal conclusion of an arrest or charge at whatever
stage it occurs in the criminal justice process.
E.g., release by police after arrest without charging; decline to
proceed by prosecutor; or final trial court disposition.)
Does your state collect charge tracking information (sometimes referred to as “interim disposition information”) on the criminal history record showing the status of a case as it moves through the justice system? (E.g., reporting of an indictment, charges filed that are different than arrest charges, etc.)
Yes No
(a) How many
final case dispositions
did your repository receive during
2020? ____________ dispositions
(b) Of those, how many were sent to the FBI? ____________ dispositions
Of the dispositions forwarded to the FBI:
(c) What percentage was sent by Machine Readable
Data (MRD),
such as tape/CD/DVD? ____________ %
(d) What percentage was sent via hard copy/paper? ____________ %
What percentage
was sent by Interstate
Identification Index (III) message
key? ____________ %
Note: When calculating the percentage of arrests with final dispositions recorded, some states consider an arrest to have a disposition if any final disposition can be associated with an arrest cycle. This is commonly referred to as “cycle matching.” Other states do not consider an arrest to have a final disposition until all arrest charges are linked to a final disposition. This is commonly referred to as “charge matching.”
3. Does your state perform cycle or charge matching to calculate the percentage of arrests in the criminal history database with final dispositions?
Cycle matching
Charge matching
What percentage of all arrests in the criminal history database have final case dispositions recorded?
Arrests entered within past 5 years ____________ %
Arrests in the entire database ____________ %
Felony charges ____________ %
(a) Of the
dispositions received at the repository during 2020,
what
percentage could not be linked to a specific arrest record,
either
because of failed matching criteria or the arrest had not
been
reported to the repository? _______________ %
(b) When a disposition cannot be matched to an arrest, the following action(s) is taken: (Check all that apply.)
Placed in a suspense file (no further action)
Placed in a suspense file for further investigation
Disposition information is rejected
Follow-up actions are taken by repository staff
Court is contacted
Court-provided charge(s) and corresponding disposition is posted to the beginning or end of record
Other ______________________________________________
(a) As of December 31, 2020, was any court disposition data reported directly to the repository by automated means? (Note: “automated” refers to a method by which data is transmitted by the court to the repository where it is matched against criminal history records and entered on the criminal history record, usually without manual intervention. This does not include dispositions received via fax or email, which require manual activity for criminal history record matching and data entry.)
Yes No (skip to question 6d)
(b) How many court disposition records were:
Received via
automated means through a centralized
(statewide) court case
management system _______________
Received via the local courts’ case management systems _______________
(c) What percentage of dispositions was reported in 2020 by automated means?
____________%
How are records matched between the court system and the repository? (Check all that apply.)
Process Control Number (PCN) or Transaction Control Number (TCN) assigned when fingerprints were taken at time of arrest/booking
PCN or TCN assigned subsequent to arrest/booking
State Identification Number
Arrest Number
Name
Date of birth
Charges
Other (please explain)_____________________________________________
In 2020, what was the average time elapsed between the occurrence of final felony court case dispositions and receipt of information concerning such dispositions by the repository?
1 day or less
2–7 days
8–90 days
91–180 days
181–365 days
More than 1 year
In 2020, what was the average time elapsed between receipt of final felony court disposition information by the repository and entry of that information into the criminal history record database?
1 day or less
2–7 days
8–30 days
31–90 days
91–180 days
181–365 days
More than 1 year
(a) As of December 31, 2020, was your state using any livescan devices in courtrooms/courthouses to link positive identifications with dispositions? If no, skip to question 10.
Yes No
(b) How many livescan devices are in courtrooms/courthouses?
____________ devices
(a) As of December 31, 2020, was there a backlog of court disposition data to be entered into the criminal history record database (i.e., not entered within 48 hours of receipt at the repository, including dispositions that could not be matched to a criminal history record within 48 hours of receipt at the repository)? If no, skip to question 11.
Yes No
(b) How many unprocessed or partially processed court case dispositions did you have?
________________
(a) Does the repository receive any final case disposition information (e.g., decline to proceed) from local prosecutors? If no, skip to question 11c.
Yes No
(b) This information is: (Check all that apply.)
Received via automated means through a centralized (statewide) prosecutors’ case management system
Received via the local prosecutors’ case management system
Paper-based
A mix of automated and paper-based
(c) How are records matched between prosecutors and the repository? (Check all that apply.)
Process Control Number (PCN) or Transaction Control Number (TCN) assigned when fingerprints were taken at time of arrest/booking
PCN or TCN assigned subsequent to arrest/booking
State Identification Number
Arrest Number
Name
Date of birth
Charges
Other (please explain)_____________________________________________
Does your state post indictment information to the criminal history record?
Yes No
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
SECTION
IV: NONCRIMINAL
BACKGROUND CHECKS
This section completed by
Name ________________________________ Title ________________________________
Agency _____________________________________________________________________
Phone ________________________________ Email _______________________________
Date completed ________________________ |
BACKGROUND CHECKS
(a) Does your state charge a fee to conduct a search of the criminal history record database for noncriminal justice purposes? If no, skip to question 2.
Yes No
(b) How are fees allocated?
All fees go
to the state general fund, with repository
funded by general
fund allotment
A percentage of fees go to support repository operations __________ %
All fees go to support repository operations
Other _______________________________________________________
Please indicate which of the following background checks are performed by your state pursuant to law. (Check all that apply.)
|
National check |
State check only |
Daycare providers |
|
|
Caregivers–residential facilities |
|
|
School teachers |
|
|
Non-teaching school personnel (including volunteers) |
|
|
Volunteers working with children |
|
|
Prospective foster care parents |
|
|
Prospective adoptive parents |
|
|
Relative caregivers |
|
|
Nurses/Elder caregivers |
|
|
Legal guardians |
|
|
Hazardous materials licensees |
|
|
Medical marijuana (dispensers, caregivers) |
|
|
FINGERPRINT-BASED SEARCHES
(a) Has your state privatized the taking of fingerprints for noncriminal justice purposes? If no, skip to question 4.
Yes No
(b) Is this service provided by?
A single vendor Multiple vendors
(c) Does the vendor(s) assess a fee above what the state charges to perform the background check?
Yes, Fee $ No
(d) Does the vendor provide any additional services besides the fingerprint capture? (E.g., evaluating responses for the requestor, sending responses back to the requestor, etc.)
(a) Total
number of noncriminal justice fingerprints
submitted to
the repository via livescan during 2020 ____________
(b) Total number of noncriminal justice fingerprints
submitted to the repository via cardscan during
2020 ____________
(c) Percentage of noncriminal justice fingerprints
submitted
via livescan during 2020 ____________%
(d) Percentage of noncriminal justice fingerprints
submitted
via cardscan during 2020 ____________%
5. What information is contained in the results for fingerprint-based noncriminal justice background checks? (Check all that apply.)
Full record
Convictions only
Juvenile records
Arrests without disposition–over 1 year old
Other _______________________________________________________
What percentage of fingerprint-based noncriminal justice transactions are identified against arrest fingerprints?
_________ %
Does the repository attempt to locate missing disposition information before responding to a fingerprint-based noncriminal justice inquiry?
Yes No
NAME-BASED SEARCHES
How many name-based noncriminal justice background checks did your repository perform in 2018? (a+b+c+d = e)
Received via Internet ____________
Received via mail ____________
Received via telephone ____________
Other ____________
Total ____________
INTERNET ACCESS
9. Does your repository provide web-based noncriminal justice background checks to the public?
Yes No
10. Are fees involved for Internet access for the general public (not including any registration or account fees)?
Yes, Fee $ No
BULK SALE OF CRIMINAL HISTORY DATA
11. (a) Do you provide bulk copies of criminal history records to private background check companies?
Yes No
(b) If so, how are data provided? (Check all that apply.)
One-time data extractions
Subscriptions
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
(c) If a subscription service is offered, how frequently are subscriptions updated/validated?
Annual updates
Monthly updates
Weekly Updated
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
12. How are private background check companies notified if records have been sealed/expunged or are otherwise no longer considered public records? (Check all that apply.)
Website
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
13. What are the legal obligations on the part of private background check companies to update records received from the state CCH repository?
Updates must be made within 7 days
Updates must be made with 30 days
Updates must be made quarterly
Other (briefly describe) _______________________
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
SECTION
V: RECORD
SEALING AND EXPUNGEMENTS
This section completed by
Name ________________________________ Title ________________________________
Agency _____________________________________________________________________
Phone ________________________________ Email _______________________________
Date completed ________________________ |
Record sealing and record expungement definitions and practices vary widely across the states. For the purpose of answering questions in this section, the following definitions apply.
Sealed Record: Record is restricted from public access (if such access is available in your state) and is generally unavailable for employment and licensing purposes. Sealed records may be accessed on a limited basis – e.g., criminal justice employment, law enforcement investigations, research purposes etc.
Expunged Record: All hard copy and electronic information about the arrest is destroyed/ obliterated. No information about the arrest or disposition is retained, and it is therefore unavailable for any purpose once expunged.
Since all states have some degree of automatic sealing or expungement of juvenile records, the following questions only apply to adult criminal history records.
Do you have statutes and/or policies that define procedures for criminal history record sealing and/or expungement?
Yes, sealing only
Yes, expungement only
Yes, both sealing and expungement
No
2. If a record is sealed, is it still accessible for research purposes?
Yes No
3. How are requests to seal/expunge records received? (Check all that apply.)
In-person
Fax
Online Portal/Website
System-to-system request (e.g., courts submit requests from their RMS to the repository)
Other (describe)
4. (a) Does your repository track the number of sealing/expungement requests it received in 2020?
Yes No
(b) If yes, how many requests to seal records were received in 2020? _______
(c) If yes, how many requests to expunge records were received in 2020? ________
5. (a) Does your repository track the number of sealing/expungement requests it approved in 2020?
Yes No
(b) If yes, how many records were sealed in 2020? _______
(c) If yes, how many records were expunged in 2020? _______
6. (a) Does your repository track the number of sealing/expungement requests it denied in 2020?
Yes No
(b) If yes, how many requests to seal records were denied in 2020? ________
(c) If yes, how many requests to expunge records were denied in 2020? ________
7. What are the most common reasons that requests to seal/expunge records are denied? (Check all that apply.)
Offense/crime for which the request is made is not eligible for sealing or expungement
Individual’s criminal history makes him/her ineligible
Outstanding fines, fees, restitution, etc.
Insufficient time has passed since the offense/conviction occurred
Failure to provide necessary documentation to support the request
Other (describe)
Automatic Sealing and Expungement
Some states have adopted laws and/or policies to automatically seal/expunge records — i.e., where the subject of the record does not have to file a petition to have the record sealed or expunged. Questions 8‒10 are only concerned with automatic sealing and expungements.
8. In 2020, were any records automatically sealed/expunged in your state?
Yes, sealing only
Yes, expungement only
Yes, both sealing and expungement
No
9. How many adult records were automatically sealed in 2020? _______
10. How many adult records were automatically expunged in 2020? _______
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:
File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
Author | Owen Greenspan |
File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
File Created | 2023-07-29 |