South Carolina NCHIP 2020

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 FY 20 NCHIP project, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) will use federal funds to continue positions funded under previous NCHIP awards, hire new positions to address identified gaps, contract with an organization to provide a Computerized Criminal History Data Quality Dashboard, and support the South Carolina Judicial Branch (SCJB) to gain more dispositions for submittal to SLED and develop a case repository. Efforts outlined in this award will continue to support enhanced disposition reporting and improve the overall accuracy, quality, timeliness, and immediate accessibility of South Carolina’s criminal history and related records. South Carolina already makes available all dispositions that are within the state’s criminal history system (unless the record is sealed). However, 39% of records available to national systems are missing dispositions. To address this, this award will increase the number of dispositions available to the state’s criminal history system thereby making them available at the federal level. SLED will also use NCHIP funded personnel to convert paper fingerprint cards to electronically available information. In doing so, information that is not currently available to Interstate Identification Index (III) and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) will be made available through the automation of records. SLED will also use NCHIP funded personnel to educate law enforcement agencies and courts on the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Protection Order File and Wanted Persons File. Additionally, funds will be used to implement the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. Funding for information technology staff and contractors will also be provided to ensure access to critical systems. (CA/NCF)