California's Disposition Processing Modernization Project

The goal of the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) is to improve the Nation's safety and security by enhancing the quality, completeness, and accessibility of criminal history record information and by insuring the nationwide implementation of criminal justice and noncriminal justice background check systems. BJS provides direct financial and technical assistance to the states to improve criminal history and other related records and to build their infrastructure to connect to national record check systems both to supply information and to conduct the requisite checks.

Under the 2017 NCHIP priority areas, the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) will conduct 2 projects to continue the State’s efforts to improve the collection, processing, reporting, archival, and storage of disposition information which includes; 1) the CA DOJ will hire consultants to conduct three major activities to contribute to the modernization of processing dispositions which will enable more electronic submissions, and 2) the Judicial Council of California (JCC) will collaborate with CA DOJ to identify and address challenges related to the reporting of dispositions by the Superior Courts of California to the CA DOJ.

Modernization of Processing Dispositions: the CA DOJ will hire consultants to conduct three activities: 1) Operational Assessment of CA DOJ criminal history processing and repository: Through a series of interviews, document reviews, and observations the CA DOJ will develop a more in-depth understanding of how well the CA DOJ is achieving mandates through business policies, practices, and procedures as well as how existing “systems” are helping to achieve those business goals. The operational assessment will also seek to better understand, from a disposition reporting agency perspective, the ease of submitting information to the CA DOJ and the quality of information CA DOJ sends back. 2) Enhance the NIEM Web Services: The CA DOJ will enhance the NIEM web services, developed in partnership with JCC, to be a viable solution option for any reporting agency regardless of connectivity path to CA DOJ. The CA DOJ will continue to work with JCC to onboard California courts that want to submit to the CA DOJ via their establish connectivity through the JCC. The CA DOJ will also expand the usage of this service offering to other reporting agencies such as courts, prosecuting agencies, and law enforcement agencies that may not have connectivity through JCC and want to connect to the CA DOJ directly. The CA DOJ will also enhance the “system” to satisfy an assessment recommendation made by SEARCH to ensure that the solution is Global Reference Architecture and NIEM compliant. 3) Develop Disposition Reporting “Portal”: The CA DOJ will develop a modernized disposition reporting portal, where reporting agencies can submit dispositions, view information ion previous submission, access transaction processing error reports, and receive training and documentation related to disposition reporting.

JCC Reporting of Dispositions by the Courts: the JCC will work with the CA DOJ to identify and address challenges and issues related to the reporting of dispositions by the Courts to CA DOJ. The JCC’s role in addressing the disposition gaps involves outreach and support of the 58 superior courts to increase electronic disposition reporting in order to increase matches of dispositions sent from the courts to information sent to CA DOJ from other reporting agencies. The project will build on the progress made from FY 2014 NCHIP funded projects to improve the court disposition reporting to CA DOJ. For FY 2017 NCHIP, the JCC will expand on the California Disposition Reporting Exchange (CDRE), improve mental health reporting for firearm prohibition, create a California Courts Clearinghouse, support the California Master Charge Code Table, and create online disposition data visualizations.

(CA/NCF)