California Department of Justice's Disposition Collection and Processing Project

The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) will use FY21 NCHIP funding to enhance the Criminal Justice Data Exchange (CJDE) with functionality to allow courts to submit dispositions via the CJDE secure web-based platform in lieu of paper forms; to improve the connecting of state and federal data by utilizing the Event Identifier (EVI); to expand EBTS 10.0.8 Compliance Enhancement program to include CA DOJ criminal history processes, systems, and services; and to enable future use of the EVI for disposition reporting to the federal repository. The EVI is a unique number assigned to each event for an identity (both criminal and civil cycles) returned in the tenprint response (SRE). The current California state summary criminal history information repository does not collect, process, or store the EVI number associated with transactions sent to the FBI; which limits the connecting capabilities of record updates and results in a higher Disposition Gap at the federal level than exists at the state level. CADOJ will also use funds to extend the platform to allow courts to provide disposition and sentencing information via web-form. It will also create and implement standardized reporting of open arrest gaps by county, by month, for multiple types of dispositions. These reports will be used to facilitate guidance to external agencies on how to improve their processes and standards to close their Disposition Gap. The CADOJ will also partner with the Judicial Council of California (JCC) to use NCHIP funding to identify and address challenges related to the reporting of dispositions by the superior courts to CA DOJ. The JCC will conduct research and provide technical assistance and outreach to the superior courts of California to increase the accuracy and completeness of electronic case disposition reporting. Specifically, the JCC will (1) conduct background research to identify possible modifications to criminal citation forms that are likely to increase defendant comprehension and compliance with required actions, (2) implement a research plan to identify counties where there may be disposition reporting lags and potential solutions for remediation, (3) continue to act as a liaison between CA DOJ and the superior courts to improve Mental Health Reporting for the purpose of firearm prohibition, (4) support the California Master Charge Code Table project by attending meetings, conducting background research, and providing general support to the assigned project attorney and business system analyst, (5) maintain the Data Dashboards created with previous NCHIP awards.