HOUSE BILL REPORT
HB 2763



         As Reported by House Committee On:       
Criminal Justice & Corrections

Title: An act relating to the crime prevention and privacy compact.

Brief Description: Ratifying the crime prevention and privacy compact.

Sponsors: Representative Dickerson.

Brief History:

Criminal Justice & Corrections: 1/24/06, 1/27/06 [DP].

Brief Summary of Bill
  • Authorizes Washington to ratify the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact (Compact) in order to share criminal history records with other party states for non-criminal justice purposes.
  • Requires the Washington State Patrol (WSP) to serve as the state Compact officer for the Compact.
  • Requires the WSP to report annually to the Legislature on the Compact's operations and make recommendations for policy changes.


HOUSE COMMITTEE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE & CORRECTIONS

Majority Report: Do pass. Signed by 7 members: Representatives O'Brien, Chair; Darneille, Vice Chair; Pearson, Ranking Minority Member; Ahern, Assistant Ranking Minority Member; Kirby, Strow and Williams.

Staff: Yvonne Walker (786-7841).

Background:

The Joint Task Force on Criminal Background Check Processes (Task Force) was created by the passage of Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2556 during the 2004 legislative session and was extended an additional year during the 2005 legislative session (SHB 1681). The legislation required the Task Force to review and make recommendations regarding how to improve the state's criminal background check processes. The legislation also required the Task Force to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature.

One of the Task Force's recommendations was to ratify the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact (Compact). The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Act was enacted in 1998. The Compact itself organizes an electronic information sharing system among the federal government and states as a way to exchange criminal history records for non-criminal justice purposes. Under the Compact, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the party states (states that have ratified the Compact) agree to maintain detailed databases of their respective criminal history records and make them available to the federal government and to other party states for authorized purposes.

The Compact requires the FBI and participating party states to provide information and records for the national identification index and the national fingerprint file and also to provide criminal history records, in a timely fashion, to criminal history record repositories of other states and the federal government for non-criminal justice purposes.

The Compact eliminates duplication. As states become participants of the Compact, the FBI will cease to maintain duplicate criminal records for persons arrested and prosecuted in those states. The FBI will continue to still maintain the fingerprints but they will not maintain the actual records. The FBI's centralized files of state offender records will be discontinued and all users of criminal history records will obtain those records directly from the respective state's central computerized files (or from the FBI if the offender has a federal record).

As a result of Compact ratification, states will be relieved of the burden and cost of submitting arrest fingerprints and charge and disposition data to the FBI for all arrests. Instead they will submit only fingerprints and textual identification data for each person's first arrest.

Thirty-six states have ratified the national Compact and four other states recently passed legislation in 2005.


Summary of Bill:

Washington will join the national Compact. The WSP will serve as the state Compact officer for the Compact.

The Compact took effect once it was entered into by two or more states and the federal government. In Washington, the Compact will become effective 180 days after written notice of renunciation is provided by the party state to each other party state and to the federal government. Once the Compact is adopted and in force, it will remain binding until the state enacts a statute specifically repealing the statute.

The purpose of the Compact is to:

Responsibilities of Compact Parties

Federal Bureau of Investigation: The FBI must appoint a Compact officer who must:

Participating Party States: Each party state must appoint a Compact officer who must:

In carrying out responsibilities under the Compact, the FBI and each party state must comply with the rules established by the Compact Council (Council) concerning record dissemination and use, response times, data quality, system security, accuracy, privacy protection, and other aspects of the interstate identification system. Use of the interstate identification system must be managed so as not to diminish the level of services provided in support of criminal justice purposes. In addition, the administration of the Compact must not reduce the level of service available to authorized noncriminal justice users on the effective date of the Compact.

The FBI and participating party states must provide criminal history records (excluding sealed records) to other state criminal history record repositories, criminal justice agencies, and other governmental or nongovernmental agencies for noncriminal justice purposes allowed by federal statute, federal executive order, or a state statute that has been approved by the Attorney General, that authorizes national indices checks. Any record obtained under the Compact may only be used for the official purposes for which the record was requested. Each Compact officer must establish procedures, consistent with the Compact, which must protect the accuracy and privacy of the records, and must:

Administration of the Compact must not interfere with the management and control of the Director of the FBI over the FBI's collection and dissemination of criminal history records for all purposes other than noncriminal justice. In addition, the Compact must not diminish or lessen the responsibilities of any state, whether a party state or a nonparty state regarding the use and dissemination of criminal history records and information.

Record Request Procedures. When submitting a record request:

Establishment of the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council (Council). The Council is established and will remain in existence as long as the Compact remains in effect. The Council will be administratively located within the FBI and will be comprised of 15 members, each of whom must be appointed by the Attorney General. The Council must meet at least once each year and the meeting must be open to the public. The Council must make available for public inspection and copying any rules, procedures, or standards established by the Council. In addition, the Council may request from the FBI such reports, studies, statistics, or other information or materials as the Council determines to be necessary to enable the Council to perform its duties under the Compact. The FBI, to the extent authorized by law, may provide such assistance or information upon request. The Council chairman may establish committees as necessary to carry out the Compact.

The Council has initial authority to make determinations with respect to any dispute regarding the Compact and may hold a hearing concerning any dispute. The FBI must exercise to preserve the integrity of the interstate identification system and may appeal any decision of the Council to the Attorney General. Thereafter the FBI may file suit in the appropriate district court of the United States, which must have original jurisdiction of all cases or controversies arising under the Compact.

Washington State Patrol. The WSP is authorized to form a subcommittee, which should include members representing the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of state government to perform the functions of the state Council. Any such subcommittee must include representation of both houses and at least two of the four largest political caucuses in the Legislature. The WSP, or a subcommittee if formed, must:

The WSP must appoint one of its members to represent the state at meetings of the Compact when the Compact administrator cannot attend.


Appropriation: None.

Fiscal Note: Available.

Effective Date: The bill takes effect on July 1, 2007.

Testimony For: The Task Force recommended adoption of the Compact. The Compact permits the FBI's use of the national identification index and the national fingerprint file by each Compact signing state. The WSP will serve as the Compact officer of the state. The Compact allows for Washington to be a member of the Compact and prevents duplication on information.   

If Washington was a member of the Compact (which does require legislative action), the WSP would submit fingerprints electronically to the FBI. The FBI would not keep the criminal history records but they would keep the fingerprints on file. If the FBI got a hit on a particular set of fingerprints then they would send a notice back to the WSP electronically. The WSP would then electronically contact the state holding the criminal record directly and the criminal history record would be electronically transmitted to the WSP. This will streamline the entire background check process for the state.

Testimony Against: None.

Persons Testifying: Representative Dickerson, prime sponsor; and Chief Scott Smith, Mount Lake Terrace Police Department.

Persons Signed In To Testify But Not Testifying: None.