June 1 -- The Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) invites comments to OMB by July 3, 2023 regarding the proposed continuation of the Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems (SSCHIS).
The SSCHIS report, the most comprehensive data available on the collection and maintenance of information by state criminal history record systems, describes the status of such systems and record repositories on a biennial basis. Data collected from state record repositories serves as the basis for estimating the percentage of total state records that are immediately available through the FBI's Interstate Identification Index (III), and the percentage of arrest records that include dispositions. Other data presented include the number of records maintained by each state, the percentage of automated records in the system, and the number of states participating in the National Fingerprint File and the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact which authorizes the interstate exchange of criminal history records for noncriminal justice purposes. The SSCHIS also contains information regarding the timeliness and completeness of data in state record systems and procedures employed to improve data quality.
Since the inception of U. S. Department of Justice grant programs targeted at criminal history records improvement, National Criminal History Improvement Program - NCHIP (1995) and NICS Act Records Improvement Program - NARIP (2008), BJS has awarded over $1,000,000,000 to states, tribes and territories to improve access to criminal history records and overall data quality efforts for improving accuracy, timeliness and completeness of these records. BJS uses the information provided through the SSCHIS to help gauge overall efforts to improve criminal history records in the United States. Researchers use this information to assess the status of criminal history records maintained by the states and to estimated overall percentage of the U.S. population with criminal history records. States, tribes and territories also use the statistics provided in response to the SSCHIS to support grant application and reporting requirements.
Since 1989, BJS has sponsored the biennial survey of state criminal history information systems through a cooperative agreement with SEARCH, Group Inc. The Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems has provided state and federal lawmakers, policymakers, state criminal record agency administrators, researchers and others with the only comprehensive data available on the number and completeness of state-maintained criminal history records, the backbone of the nation’s criminal record information sharing network. Survey information has supported and helped gauge the efficacy of initiatives, NCHIP and NARIP among them, designed to improve criminal history records and to support firearm suitability determinations, and sex offender and domestic violence protection order registries.
The criminal history record is the underpinning for wide ranging decision making within the criminal justice system. It is also of critical importance for employment, licensing, volunteer screening, and most especially as it relates to safety of children, the elderly and other vulnerable populations and national security efforts. The value of the SSCHIS data has increased in recent years as lawmakers at all levels of government continue to implement programs that rely on criminal history record background checks to improve public safety and to support a growing number of national security initiatives. By helping to inform these legislative efforts by providing lawmakers with invaluable data on the status of state-maintained criminal history records, the survey has played a critical role in the success of these public safety initiatives. Through an extensive process of review of prior surveys and analysis of current or emerging issues, the forthcoming survey, as in the past, is a unique opportunity to capture information of interest to contributors, federal criminal justice agencies, and other state and federal policymakers.
The Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems is essential to assessing the impact of the NCHIP and NARIP programs nationally. The survey supports the BJS mission under Title 34 U.S.C. Section 10132(c)(19), to provide for improvements in the accuracy, quality, timeliness, immediate accessibility, and integration of state criminal history and related records. It also supports the development and enhancement of national systems of criminal history and related records including the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), the Interstate Identification Index (III), the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system, (formerly Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, IAFIS), the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and the records contained in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC). The survey also draws attention to state participation in national records and information systems by providing regular data to BJS and the FBI reporting progress on criminal record and fingerprint automation and disposition completeness and supports statistical research for critical analysis of the improvement and utilization of criminal history records.
Over the last decade, BJS launched an effort to enhance its statistical infrastructure by more fully integrating federal and state criminal history records into its operations. Through a partnership with the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, the International Justice and Public Safety Network (Nlets), the organization who administers the national telecommunications network over which criminal records are shared, and the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, BJS developed an automated means of acquiring, processing, and analyzing these records to support ongoing recidivism research and evaluation. The Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems is also an essential element of this work by helping to assess the differential impact that varied state laws and regulations and reporting practices have on observed rearrest, reconviction and reincarceration estimates which are derived from the records.
Data from the collection are used frequently by policymakers, the media, and the public to cite improvements by states in the level of automation and disposition completeness. The U.S. Attorney General cited individual state data from the 2016 report in a recent letter to state Governors and Attorneys General emphasizing the importance of making records available to NICS and the Department of Justice’s priority to improve reporting of state and federal records to NICS. The SSCHIS is the only report that collects national level data on state criminal history record repository operations and volumes of arrests and dispositions.
SSCHIS publication series:
https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/list?series_filter=Survey%20of%20State%20Criminal%20History%20Information%20Systems
BJS submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202305-1121-002 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-11594
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806