SENATE BILL REPORT
SHB 1605
As Reported By Senate Committee On:
Technology & Communications, April 3, 2003
Title: An act relating to a statewide justice information network.
Brief Description: Creating a statewide justice information network.
Sponsors: House Committee on Technology, Telecommunications & Energy (originally sponsored by Representatives Ruderman, Anderson, Sullivan, Miloscia, Schual-Berke, Conway, O'Brien and Lovick).
Brief History:
Committee Activity: Technology & Communications: 3/24/03, 4/3/03 [DPA].
SENATE COMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY & COMMUNICATIONS
Majority Report: Do pass as amended.
Signed by Senators Esser, Chair; Finkbeiner, Vice Chair; Eide, Reardon, Schmidt and Stevens.
Staff: William Bridges (786-7424)
Background: Criminal history information is used during law enforcement investigations, prosecutorial charging decisions, pre-trial release decisions, sentence determinations, and inmate classifications. In 1984, the Legislature passed the Criminal Justice Information Act (CJIA), which established a system for reporting and disseminating criminal history information. Under the act, the Washington State Patrol is the primary source of felony conviction histories for certain criminal proceedings, and the State Patrol, the Department of Corrections, and the Office of Financial Management are the primary sources of criminal justice forecasting information.
Among other things, the act requires the Department of Corrections, the State Patrol, and the Office of Financial Management to appoint an executive committee, now called the CJIA Executive Committee, to recommend the development and modification of the criminal information systems operated by the Department of Corrections, the State Patrol, and the Office of Financial Management. Accordingly, the CJIA Executive Committee has been informally coordinating the state's criminal history reporting systems since 1984.
In its current form, the CJIA Executive Committee is composed of 17 members representing 16 different entities: (1) the Governor, (2) the Attorney General, (3) the State Patrol, (4) the Department of Corrections, (5) the Department of Licensing, (6) the Administrative Office of the Courts, (7) the Office of Financial Management, (8) the Department of Information Services, (9) the Department of Social and Health Services, (10) the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, (11) the Washington State Association of Counties, (12) the Judicial Information System Committee, (13) the Association of Washington Cities, (14) the Washington Association of County Clerks, (15) the Washington Association of City and County Information Systems, and (16) the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys.
Summary of Amended Bill: The CJIA Executive Committee is replaced by the Integrated Justice Information Board, which includes the same membership as the CJIA Executive Committee. The board may also appoint additional nonvoting members.
The board assumes the responsibilities of the CJIA Executive Committee, which are formalized in statute. In addition, the board is assigned duties regarding the integration of justice information, such as: (1) increasing the use of automated electronic data transfer among justice agencies and courts; (2) establishing protocols and technical standards for data transfer and sharing; and (3) implementing a statewide justice information network.
The board must report to the Governor, the Supreme Court, and the Legislature by September 1, 2004, and at least every two years thereafter, with recommendations for improving the integration of criminal justice information systems.
An intent section declares, among other things, that the purpose of the act is to develop and maintain, in a cost-effective manner, a statewide network of criminal justice information that enables sharing and integrated delivery of justice information.
Amended Bill Compared to Substitute Bill: Legislative members are removed from the Washington Integrated Justice Board. A technical change is made to the title of the person who represents juvenile rehabilitation programs.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date: Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.
Testimony For: Justice agencies are legally required to share criminal history information. The bulk of this information is mailed or hand-carried and then re-entered manually into an agency's system. This system for sharing information is 20 years old and has not kept up with technological changes. It is very inefficient and can compromise public safety because police agencies need up-to-date information when booking suspects. For example, it takes four weeks to process fingerprints by mail, but only a few minutes electronically. This bill does not create a new centralized data base of information, nor does it change current confidentially laws. This bill only deals with the governance of the current system of sharing information among separate data bases. The Information Services Board supports this bill.
Testimony Against: None.
Testified: Rep. Ruderman, prime sponsor; Paul Beckley, Criminal Records Div., Wash. State Patrol (pro); Steve Clem, Douglas County Prosecuting Attorney, Wash. Assn. of Prosecuting Atty's (pro); Stuart McKee, Dir., Dept. of Information Services and Chair, Criminal Justice Information Act Executive Committee (pro); Mary McQueen, Administrator, Administrative Office of the Courts (pro).