Goals for State-Federal Action

Dissemination of criminal record information for criminal justice purposes helps protect the public by informing decision-makers about offenders. Increasingly, public and private noncriminal justice entities seek access to criminal record information for employment, licensing, and related public safety and national security purposes. NCSL supports use of the federal-interstate computer network known as the Interstate Identification Index (III) which ties state criminal record databases and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Such tools provide means to conduct national searches of criminal records and facilitate information sharing under interstate compacts such as the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, and the Interstate Compact for Juveniles. NCSL supports such state-federal information systems and sharing partnerships in the states where they have been adopted for purposes of crime control and counter-terrorism. NCSL maintains that records available via such systems should continue to be predominately state-maintained and state policies for dissemination of those records should be recognized by and adhered to under the systems. NCSL supports federal assistance in improving state criminal history records and records systems, including the National Criminal History Improvement Program. NCSL opposes any unfunded federal mandates related to criminal history record keeping. This includes prescriptive policies on sex offender registration information tied to federal law enforcement assistance funds. NCSL supports federal non-preemptive initiatives that utilize DNA records in crime-solving and the administration of justice, including the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Federal funds, including those for DNA analysis backlog elimination, should support the use of DNA as an interstate investigative tool while adhering to state law and placing no new requirement on states regarding collection, dissemination or use of records.

Expires July 2007