SB 304

This bill provides for technical revisions that comply with Act 2013-67 which vested all functions of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center with the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) and renamed the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission

This bill would clarify the operation, powers, and duties of the Alabama Justice Information Commission

This bill would authorize ALEA to execute and implement the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact

This bill would further authorize ALEA to charge a fee for criminal background checks subject to certain limitations

Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose

The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment

Relating to the Alabama Justice Information Commission; to amend Sections 41-9-590, 41-9-591, 41-9-592, 41-9-593, 41-9-594, 41-9-595, 41-9-621, 41-9-623, 41-9-625, and 41-9-637, Code of Alabama 1975, to provide for technical revisions; to clarify the operation, powers, and duties of the Alabama Justice Information Commission; to add Sections 41-9-650, 41-9-651, and 41-9-652 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to authorize ALEA to execute and implement the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact; and to authorize ALEA to charge a fee for criminal background checks subject to certain limitations; to repeal Sections 41-9-597, 41-9-622, and 41-9-629 of the Code of Alabama 1975, and in connection therewith would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended.

Section 1

Sections 41-9-590, 41-9-591, 41-9-592, 41-9-593, 41-9-594, 41-9-595, 41-9-621, 41-9-623, 41-9-625, and 41-9-637, Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

§41-9-590.

When used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings, respectively, unless the context clearly indicates a different meaning:

(1) AJIC. The Alabama Justice Information Commission, formerly known as the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission.

(2) ALEA. The Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency which succeeded and was vested with all functions of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center.

(3) CJIS SYSTEMS OFFICER (CSO). An individual designated by the secretary to be the director of state operations under this article who is responsible for the administration of the FBI CJIS policies on behalf of the state.

(4) COMMISSION. The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission.

(5) CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD INFORMATION (CHRI). A subset of CJI. This term includes any notations or other written or electronic evidence of an arrest, detention, complaint, indictment, information, or other formal criminal charge relating to an identifiable person that includes identifying information regarding the individual as well as the disposition of any charges.

(6)(1) CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES (CJA). Such term shall include those public agencies at all levels of government, including federal, state, local, and tribal, which perform as their principal function substantial activities or planning for such activities relating to the identification, apprehension, prosecution, adjudication or rehabilitation of civil, traffic and criminal offenders.

(7) CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION (CJI). An abstract term used to refer to all of the ALEA or FBI CJIS provided data necessary for law enforcement agencies to perform their mission and enforce the laws. This term includes, but is not limited to, biometric, identity history, person, organization, property, when accompanied by any personally identifiable information, and case/incident history data. In addition, CJI refers to the ALEA or FBI CJIS provided data necessary for agencies to perform their mission, including, but not limited to, data used to make hiring decisions.

(8) CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SERVICES DIVISION (CJIS or FBI CJIS). The division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation that equips law enforcement, national security, and intelligence community partners with needed CJI.

(9) INFORMATION SYSTEM. A system of people, data, and processes, whether manual or automated, established for the purpose of managing information.

(10) NLETS. Network provider for exchange of CJI among multiple state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies.

(11) NLETS SYSTEM AGENCY (NSA). The agency responsible for the administration of the Nlets network within this state.

(12)(2) OFFENSE. Any act which is a felony or is a misdemeanor as described in Section 41-9-622, misdemeanor, state violation, municipal ordinance or violation, or an act of delinquency.

(13) SECRETARY. The Secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.

(3) CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SYSTEM and SYSTEM. Such terms shall include that portion of those public agencies, procedures, mechanisms, media and Criminal Justice Information Center forms as well as the information itself involved in the origination, transmittal, storage, retrieval, analysis and dissemination of information related to reported offenses, offenders and actions related to such events or persons required to be reported to and received by, as well as stored, analyzed and disseminated by the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission through the center.

(5) ACJICC. The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission.

(6) ACJIC. The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center.

(7) CENTER. The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center.

(8) DIRECTOR. The Director of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center.

§41-9-591.

(a) There is hereby created and established an Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission, which shall establish, develop and continue to operate a center and system for the interstate and intrastate accumulation, storage, retrieval, analysis and dissemination of vital information relating to certain crimes, criminals and criminal activity to be known as the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center be the regulatory body to establish policy and procedure for the interstate and intrastate accumulation, storage, retrieval, analysis, and dissemination of information relating to offenses, criminals, and criminal activity collection, and the use of information of any data within the state for criminal investigation and public safety purposes.

(b) Central responsibility for the development, maintenance, operation, and administration of the policies and procedures dictated by the commission and legal mandates of this article Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center shall be vested with the Secretary Director of the ACJIC under the supervision of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Commission.

(c) ALEA shall be designated the CJIS Systems Agency (CSA) to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Justice Information Systems Division, or its successor, and the Nlets System Agency (NSA) to Nlets, or its successor. ALEA shall have the authority to enforce all laws, rules, and regulations regarding transmittal, exchange, and retrieval of information with and through these entities. The CSO, or a designee approved by the secretary, shall serve as the representative to these entities.

§41-9-592.

(a) The commission shall be composed of two sections.

(b) The voting section will shall include all of the following:

(1) The the Attorney General.,

(2) The the Secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.,

(3) The the Chairman Chair of the Board of Pardons and Paroles.,

(4) The the Commissioner of the Board Department of Corrections.,

(5) The the President of the Alabama Sheriffs' Association, the Director of the Department of Public Safety,.

(6) The the President of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police.,

(7) The the Director of the Division of Law Enforcement and Traffic Safety within the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. Alabama Law Enforcement Planning Agency,

(8) The the President of the Alabama District Attorney's Association.,

(9) The the President of the Alabama Circuit Clerks' Association.,

(10) The the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.,

(11) The the President of the Alabama Association of District Intermediate Court Judges,.

(12) The the President of the Alabama Association of Circuit Judges Judges' Association.,

(13) the The Alabama Secretary of Information Technology Governor's Coordinator of Alabama Highway and Traffic Safety and the Director of the Data Systems Management Division of the Alabama Department of Finance.

(c) The advisory section shall will include:

(1) The the presiding officer of the Alabama Senate.,

(2) The the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives.,

(3) The the President of the Association of County Commissions of Alabama.,

(4) The the President of the Alabama League of Municipalities.,

(5) The the Administrative Director of the Courts. and

(6) The Executive Director for the Alabama Peace Officers' Standards and Training Commission.

(7) A a citizen of the State of Alabama, to be appointed by the Governor.

(d) Any The member, except the citizen appointee, may designate in writing a shall have authority to select a designee based upon qualifications and with a view of continuity of representation and attendance at the commission meetings.

(e) No person or individual shall continue to serve on the commission when he or she no longer officially represents the function or serves in the capacity enumerated in this section as a member to which he or she was elected or appointed.

§41-9-593.

(a) The commission shall, upon its first meeting, elect from its membership a chairman chair and a vice-chairman chair who shall serve for a period of one year. The vice-chairman chair shall act in the place of the chairman chair in his or her absence or disability. If a new chair and vice-chair is not elected at the January meeting, the current chair and vice-chair shall remain in place until successors are elected. Commencing October 1, 2014, the Secretary of the Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency shall serve as chairman of the commission.

(b) The commission shall meet at such times as designated by the commission or by the chairman chair at the state capital or at other places as is deemed necessary or convenient, but the chairman of the commission must call a meeting four times a year at the state capital or main location of the ACJIC ALEA in the months of January, April, July, and October. The chairman chair of the commission may also call a special meeting of the commission at any time he or she deems it advisable or necessary. A quorum shall be a simple majority of the voting commission membership or their designees and all matters coming before the commission shall be voted on by the commission.

(c) The commission will keep or cause to be kept a record of all transactions discussed or voted on by the commission.

(d) Members of the commission and their designees shall serve without compensation; except, that payment of their expenses may be paid in accordance with the applicable state travel regulations.

§41-9-594.

(a) The commission shall establish its own rules, regulations, and policies for the performance of the responsibilities charged to it in this article.

(b) The commission shall ensure that: The establish rules and policies which will restrict the information obtained under authority of this article is restricted to the items germane to the implementation of this article; and the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center (ACJIC) is administered so as not to accumulate or distribute any information not required by this article; and adequate safeguards are incorporated so that data available through this system is restrict the information used use to only by properly authorized persons and agencies.

(c) (b) The chair of the commission shall appoint a Privacy and Security Committee from the membership of the commission who are elected officials or their designees, consisting of a chair and three members, to study the privacy and security implications of sharing criminal justice information and to formulate policy recommendations for consideration by the commission concerning the collection, storage, dissemination, or usage of criminal justice information.

(d) (c) The commission may adopt rules and policies regarding the collection, storage, and dissemination of arrest and criminal history criminal justice information that conform to the policies of the National Crime Information Center of the Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI CJIS Division. The ACJIC may supply employee commission may adopt rules and policies that permit ALEA to perform background checks for noncriminal justice purposes criminal records as provided in subsection (a) and may provide for the procedure for obtaining the records including, but not limited to, charging a twenty-five dollar ($25) fee not to exceed twenty five ($25) dollars for securing records through ALEA the ACJIC system. Such monies shall be deposited into the State Treasury for the Public Safety Fund and shall be used to cover the expenses for improving criminal history records and the state repository at ALEA.

(e) (d) Any rule, regulation, or policy of the commission to the contrary notwithstanding, the police department of any college or university in this state which offers medical, nursing, and health care education, or which operates a hospital, including, but not limited to, the University of Alabama in Birmingham and the University of South Alabama, and excluding the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa may request from ALEA the ACJIC a criminal background check on any person who applies for employment with the college or university, and ALEA may charge a background search fee of twenty-five dollars ($25) from each applicant for each search conducted on the applicant. All fee proceeds from the background check fee shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the ALEA Public Safety Fund and shall be used to cover expenses for improving the criminal history records and state repository at ALEA Criminal Justice Information System Automation Fund and shall be expended for any purposes for which the ACJIC is authorized to expend funds appropriated to that department.

(f) The commission may establish a fee schedule for any services rendered by ALEA under the authority of this article. All fees shall be deposited into the State Treasury to the credit of the ALEA Public Safety Fund.

§41-9-595.

The commission secretary shall appoint a director and a deputy director for the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center who shall be responsible for the development, maintenance, and operation of the ACJIC all duties of ALEA as required by the terms of this article and the implementation and operation of policies, programs, and procedures established by the commission under the limitations of this article. The qualifications of the director and deputy director shall be determined by the State Personnel Department.

§41-9-621.

The commission, acting through the Director of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Secretary, shall:

(1) Develop, operate and maintain an information system systems which will support the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis and dissemination of all crime and offender data described in this article criminal justice information, other data that will aid crime fighting and public safety, as determined by the commission, including, but not limited to, data from license plate readers, biometrics and geospatial information, and data from any other automated-data collection systems operated by criminal justice agencies consistent with those principles of scope, security and responsiveness prescribed by this article. The commission may adopt rules and policies regarding the collection, use, storage, dissemination, and transmittal to ALEA, of this information by criminal justice agencies within the state. The information in these systems is privileged, not public record, and subject to the same criminal penalties for misuse as provided in Sections 41-9-601 and 41-9-602.;

(2) Cooperate with all criminal justice agencies within the state in providing those forms, procedures, standards and related training assistance necessary for the uniform operation of the statewide ALEA ACJIC crime reporting and criminal justice information system; systems.

(3) Offer assistance and, when practicable, instruction to all criminal justice agencies in establishing efficient systems for information management.;

(4) Compile statistics on the nature and extent of crime in Alabama and compile data for planning and operating criminal justice agencies; provided, that such statistics shall not identify persons. The commission shall make available all such statistical information obtained to the Governor, the Legislature, the judiciary and any such other governmental agencies whose primary responsibilities include the planning, development or execution of crime reduction programs. Access to such information by such governmental agencies shall be on an individual written request basis or in accordance with the commission-approved operational procedure, wherein must be demonstrated a need to know, the intent of any analyses and dissemination of such analyses, and shall be subject to any security provisions deemed necessary by the commission.;

(5) Periodically publish statistics, no less frequently than annually, that do not identify persons and report such information to the chief executive officers of the agencies and branches of government concerned; such information shall accurately reflect the level and nature of crime in this state and the general operation of the agencies within the criminal justice system.;

(6) Make available, upon request, to all criminal justice agencies in this state, to all federal criminal justice and criminal identification agencies and to state criminal justice and criminal identification agencies in other states any information in the files of ALEA the ACJIC which will aid these agencies in crime fighting and public safety; for this purpose ALEA the ACJIC shall operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The commission may adopt policies to share criminal justice information with international criminal justice agencies.;

(7) Cooperate with other agencies of this state, the crime information agencies of other states and the uniform crime reports and national crime information center systems of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or any entity designated by the federal government as the central clearinghouse for criminal justice information systems in developing and conducting an interstate, national and international system of criminal identification, records and statistics.;

(8) Provide the administrative mechanisms and procedures necessary to respond to those individuals who file requests to view their own records as provided for elsewhere in this article and to cooperate in the correction of the central ALEA ACJIC records and those of contributing agencies when their accuracy has been successfully challenged either through the related contributing agencies or by court order issued on behalf of the individual.;

(9) Institute the necessary measures in the design, implementation and continued operation of the criminal justice information system systems to ensure the privacy and security of the system. Such Any privacy and security measures must meet standards to be set by the commission as well as those set by the nationally operated systems for interstate sharing of such information.; and

(10) Designate in writing agents or employees of ALEA the ACJIC who shall be and are hereby constituted law enforcement peace officers of the State of Alabama with full and unlimited police power and jurisdiction to enforce the laws of this state pertaining to the operation and administration of the Alabama Criminal Justice Information System and the storage, use and dissemination of information processed therein.

(11) Establish guidelines for appropriate measures to be taken in the instance of any violation of data reporting or dissemination and shall initiate and pursue appropriate action for violations of rules, laws, and constitutional provisions pertaining thereto. The measures instituted may include, but are not limited to, the suspension of access to ALEA information systems pending investigation, the temporary or permanent suspension of access based upon a final investigation, acceptance of a user agency's administrative sanction, and prosecution of misuse of information and the denial of access for the conviction of any criminal offense. For the purposes of this section, the commission and ALEA shall be exempt from Sections 41-22-12 to 41-22-21, inclusive.

§41-9-623.

(a) All criminal justice agencies within the state shall submit to the ACJIC, by forwarding to the Alabama Department of Public Safety, ALEA fingerprints, descriptions, photographs, when specifically requested, and other identifying data on the following persons:

(1) Persons who have been lawfully arrested in this state for an offense all felonies and certain misdemeanors described in Section 41-9-622.

(2) Persons who have been charged with an act of delinquency or adjudicated a youthful offender for conduct which would constitute an offense a felony or misdemeanor offense, as described in subdivision (1), if committed by an adult.

(b) All chiefs of police, sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, parole and probation officers, wardens, or other persons in charge of correctional or detention institutions in this state shall furnish the ACJIC ALEA with any other data deemed necessary by the commission to carry out its responsibilities under this article.

(c) The State Administrative Director of Courts or the chief administrative officer of any other entity, including municipal courts and district attorneys, charged with the compilation of information and statistics pertaining to the disposition of criminal cases shall report the disposition to ALEA within a reasonable time after formal rendition of judgment as prescribed by the commission.

§41-9-625.

All persons in this state in charge of law enforcement and correction agencies shall obtain or cause to be obtained the fingerprints according to the fingerprint system of identification established by the commission, full face and profile photographs, if photo equipment is available, and other identifying data of each person arrested for an any offense of a type designated in Section 41-9-622, of all persons arrested or taken into custody as fugitives from justice, and of all unidentified human corpses in their jurisdictions, but photographs need not be taken if it is known that photographs of the type listed taken within the previous year are on file. Fingerprints and other identifying data of persons arrested for offenses other than those designated in this article may be taken at the discretion of the agency concerned.

If any person arrested or taken into custody is subsequently released without charge or cleared of the offense through criminal justice proceedings, such disposition shall be reported by all state, county and municipal criminal justice agencies to ACJIC ALEA within 30 days of such action, and all such information shall be eliminated and removed.

§41-9-637.

Pertinent identifying data and historical criminal information may be obtained and disseminated on any person confined to any workhouse, jail, reformatory, prison, penitentiary or other penal institution having been convicted of an any offense described in Section 41-9-622."

Section 2

Sections 41-9-650, 41-9-651, and 41-9-652 are added to the Code of Alabama 1975, to read as follows: §41-9-650. In addition to any other requirements, any agency, board, or commission in this state that issues a permit or license may, by rule, require a criminal background check through ALEA as part of its licensing or permitting requirements. Any agency, board, or commission adopting a rule requiring a background check shall be subject to rules and procedures of the commission for the use of the background check. §41-9-651. Subject to the rules of the commission, ALEA may provide criminal history information to a judge of probate for the purpose of name changes, adoption hearings, determining the eligibility of administrators or executors of estates, or for any other lawful purpose. §41-9-652. (a) In order to facilitate the authorized interstate exchange of criminal history information for noncriminal justice purposes, including, but not limited to, background checks for the licensing and screening of employees and volunteers under the National Child Protection Act of 1993, 42 U.S.C. Section 5119-5119c, as amended, and to implement the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, 42 U.S.C. Section 14616, the Legislature approves and ratifies the compact. The secretary shall execute the compact on behalf of the state. The secretary may delay the initial execution of this compact until funding is secured to establish the procedures and hire the necessary staff to fulfill the requirements and responsibilities of this compact. (b) ALEA is the repository of criminal history records for purposes of the compact and shall do all things necessary or incidental to carry out the compact. (c) The secretary, or the secretary's designee, is the compact officer of the state and shall administer the compact within the state. The commission may adopt rules and establish procedures for the cooperative exchange of criminal history records between the state and federal governments for use in noncriminal justice cases. (d) The ratification of the state of the compact remains in effect until legislation is enacted which specifically renounces the compact. (e) This compact and this section do not affect or abridge the obligations and responsibilities of ALEA under other provisions of this article and do not alter or amend the manner, direct or otherwise, in which the public is afforded access to criminal history records under state law. (f) All revenue received by ALEA through the exchange of information enabled through this compact shall be deposited into the Public Safety Fund and shall be expended for the purpose of maintaining and supporting the Records and Identification Section of the Criminal Justice Services Division, or its successor, within the State Bureau of Investigation.

Section 3

All laws or parts of laws which conflict with this act are repealed. Specifically, Sections 41-9-597, 41-9-622, and 41-9-629, Code of Alabama 1975, are repealed.

Section 4

The Code Commissioner shall conform references in the Code of Alabama 1975, to the units, departments, divisions, and other state entities included in this act to reflect the changes required by this act and Act 2013-67. Code changes shall be made at a time determined to be appropriate by the Code Commissioner.

Section 5

Although this bill would have as its purpose or effect the requirement of a new or increased expenditure of local funds, the bill is excluded from further requirements and application under Amendment 621, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, because the bill defines a new crime or amends the definition of an existing crime.

Section 6

This act shall become effective on the first day of the third month following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.