~ criminal records site surveys - part two ~

Criminal records in state repositories are collated based on reports from the individual counties within that state. Many counties do not collect or report complete records, as I previously noted here and here. The BRB Public Record Update, a free registration newsletter, gathered the following statistics from their own products and from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice StatisticÂ’s Survey of State Criminal History Information Systems, 2001 report. A 2005 update "Examines the problem of missing dispositions in State criminal history records and the availability of State records to support the National Instant Criminal Background Check System."

1) Only 32 states require prosecutors to report to state repositories a decision to decline prosecution of a case.
2) Only 35 states and DC require law enforcement officials to notify the state repository when an arrested person is released without formal charging, but after fingerprints were submitted.
3) Only 42 states use computer edit and verification programs as part of data quality procedures.
4) Only 21 states report they receive final felony trial court dispositions for 70% or more arrests within the last 5 years.
5) Only 10 states report they receive 100% of final trial court dispositions.
6) The overall average is 13.7 days between the date of the final court disposition and the receipt of fingerprints by the state criminal record agency. The range is 1 to 169 days (MS is 169).
7) The overall average is 14.4 days between the receipt of fingerprints and entry into the state database. The range is 1 day to 180 days (OK is 180).