FY20 NARIP Indiana

The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007, P. L. 110-180 ("NIAA"), was initially signed into law by the President on January 8, 2008 (reauthorized by Title VI of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, P.L. 115-141). The NIAA 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 NIAA authorizes grants to be made in a manner consistent with the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP).

For more than a decade, the Indiana Supreme Court, Office of Court Technology (IOCT) has worked with prosecutors, and state and local law enforcement agencies to improve the completeness, timeliness, and accuracy of criminal records maintained by the Indiana State Police (ISP) and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Although significant improvements have been made, there is still more that can be done. The lack of data sharing between the jails, ISP, prosecutors and the courts is the missing link for Indiana to reach the goal of 100% record completeness in state and federal criminal history repositories. Although data is currently shared from ISP’s fingerprint system with prosecutors and courts, it is not shared with the jail systems.

IOCT is proposing to develop a jail management system that will not only meet the basic needs of a local jail; it will connect the jail system with the Indiana State Police’s fingerprint system, the statewide prosecutor and court case management systems. With at least 19 jail management systems in use today, Indiana is hoping to develop a ‘proof of concept’ jail management system that will be a model for all jail systems. It will be available to any of the 92 county Sheriffs at little to no cost. This model of having a single statewide system has proven invaluable for the courts and prosecutors throughout Indiana.

(CA/NCF)