FY18 NICS Act Record Improvement Program (NARIP)

The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, Pub. L. 110-180 ("NICS Improvement Act"), was signed into law by the President on January 8, 2008. The NICS Improvement Act amends the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 ("the Brady Act") (Pub. L. 103-159), under which the Attorney General established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The Brady Act requires Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs) to contact the NICS before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed person for information on whether the proposed transferee is prohibited from receiving or possessing a firearm under state or federal law. The NICS Improvement Act authorizes grants to be made in a manner consistent with the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP).

Under the 2018 NARIP priority areas, the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) will administer and monitor the following 5 projects in collaboration with their partner agencies:

1) Complete Development and Modifications of the Show-Me Courts System: The Office of the State Courts Administrator (OSCA) will continue to develop the new Show-Me Courts case management system. NARIP funds will be used to fund two Senior IT Programmers who will work with the Show-Me Courts project team to complete the programming for the system that is necessary for associate and circuit level criminal case processing. The development includes: functionality to allow for the reporting of associated felony and misdemeanor charges to MSHP; design and development of reporting of circuit felony and misdemeanor charges to MSHP; and continued development of proper reporting to NICS.

2) MSHP Overtime for Researching Missing Dispositions: The MSHP will use NARIP funding to support an overtime project for court and prosecutor employees to research missing disposition information. MSHP has identified two types of incomplete records that need to be researched: 1) records that have charges but lack a court case disposition; and 2) records that have an arrest, but no indication if charges were filed or denied. The overtime project will focus on those records that are 10 years old which would increase MO’s disposition completion percentage and assist NICS personnel in making firearm purchase determinations.

3) Missouri Office of Prosecution Services (MOPS) Karpel Data Transfer/Interface: Currently, there is no interface between the Prosecuting Reporting System, Karpel, and MULES data from Livescans. MOPS will develop an interface which will allow secure automatic transfer of defendant and charge information for all in-custody arrests in the state through arrest data entered through the Livescan system. The interface will also allow the data to automatically populate the prosecutors’ case management system to assure the information is securely and accurately transferred, and eliminate the need for duplicate data entry.

4) MOPS Technology Automation Resource/Sex Offender/Firearms Resource Prosecutor: MOPS will hire a FT Resource Prosecutor (RP) for 1-year who will be responsible for handling Technical Automation, Sex Offender, and Firearms-related questions, issues, and training. The RP will work independently and in coordination with OSCA and MSHP to coordinate the accuracy and completeness of the data transfer relating to criminal history reporting from prosecuting attorneys’ offices throughout OSCA and the central repository.

5) MOPS In-House IT Specialist: MOPS will hire an IT Specialist for 1-year to provide technical assistance to prosecutors’ office with program and equipment maintenance, addressing interface issues with other criminal justice partners such as the OSCA and law enforcement agencies. The IT Specialist will work with the MOPS case management software provider to address program and technical issues and act as an intermediary between local prosecutor offices and the vendor, Karpel Solutions.

(CA/NCF)