FINAL BILL REPORT

                  SSB 6535

                          C 197 L 98

                      Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Providing for electronic transfer of criminal justice information.

Sponsors:  Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Horn, Patterson, Haugen, Hale and Oke; by request of Washington State Patrol).

Senate Committee on Law & Justice

House Committee on Law & Justice

Background:  The Justice Information Act was adopted in 1984 to provide timely and accurate criminal histories, to identify and track felons, and to provide data for statewide planning and forecasting.  The goal of the project is to transition all 39 counties from the current manual process to an electronic system.

Currently, only county prosecutors report felony-level disposition information to the State Patrol, providing a link between an arrest and disposition.  The transmittal of information is done manually and must be keyed in at the State Patrol.  The lag time is several weeks.

Summary:  The statutory authority necessary to allow county prosecutors and courts to submit arrest dispositions information electronically to the State Patrol=s Identification and Criminal History Section is provided.  Additionally, the superior court is allowed to share the reporting responsibility in counties where electronic submission procedures have been implemented.

Votes on Final Passage:

Senate 47 0

House     88 0

Effective:  June 11, 1998