Home > 105th Congressional Bills > S. 2294 (es) To facilitate the exchange of criminal history records for noncriminal ...S. 2294 (es) To facilitate the exchange of criminal history records for noncriminal ...
105th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2294
To facilitate the exchange of criminal history records for noncriminal
justice purposes, to provide for the decentralized storage of criminal
history records, to amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to
facilitate the fingerprint checks authorized by that Act, and for other
purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 13, 1998
Mr. Hatch (for himself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Daschle)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice, considered, read
the third time, and passed
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To facilitate the exchange of criminal history records for noncriminal
justice purposes, to provide for the decentralized storage of criminal
history records, to amend the National Child Protection Act of 1993 to
facilitate the fingerprint checks authorized by that Act, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``National Criminal
History Access and Child Protection Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
TITLE I--EXCHANGE OF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS FOR NONCRIMINAL JUSTICE
PURPOSES
Sec. 101. Short title.
Sec. 102. Findings.
Sec. 103. Definitions.
Sec. 104. Enactment and consent of the United States.
Sec. 105. Effect on other laws.
Sec. 106. Enforcement and implementation.
Sec. 107. National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact.
Overview
ARTICLE I--DEFINITIONS
ARTICLE II--PURPOSES
ARTICLE III--RESPONSIBILITIES OF COMPACT PARTIES
ARTICLE IV--AUTHORIZED RECORD DISCLOSURES
ARTICLE V--RECORD REQUEST PROCEDURES
ARTICLE VI--ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPACT COUNCIL
ARTICLE VII--RATIFICATION OF COMPACT
ARTICLE VIII--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
ARTICLE IX--RENUNCIATION
ARTICLE X--SEVERABILITY
ARTICLE XI--ADJUDICATION OF DISPUTES
TITLE II--VOLUNTEERS FOR CHILDREN ACT
Sec. 201. Short title.
Sec. 202. Facilitation of fingerprint checks.
TITLE I--EXCHANGE OF CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS FOR NONCRIMINAL JUSTICE
PURPOSES
SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE.
This title may be cited as the ``National Crime Prevention and
Privacy Compact Act of 1998''.
SEC. 102. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and State
criminal history record repositories maintain fingerprint-based
criminal history records;
(2) these criminal history records are shared and exchanged
for criminal justice purposes through a Federal-State program
known as the Interstate Identification Index System;
(3) although these records are also exchanged for legally
authorized, noncriminal justice uses, such as governmental
licensing and employment background checks, the purposes for
and procedures by which they are exchanged vary widely from
State to State;
(4) an interstate and Federal-State compact is necessary to
facilitate authorized interstate criminal history record
exchanges for noncriminal justice purposes on a uniform basis,
while permitting each State to effectuate its own dissemination
policy within its own borders; and
(5) such a compact will allow Federal and State records to
be provided expeditiously to governmental and nongovernmental
agencies that use such records in accordance with pertinent
Federal and State law, while simultaneously enhancing the
accuracy of the records and safeguarding the information
contained therein from unauthorized disclosure or use.
SEC. 103. DEFINITIONS.
In this title:
(1) Attorney general.--The term ``Attorney General'' means
the Attorney General of the United States.
(2) Compact.--The term ``Compact'' means the National Crime
Prevention and Privacy Compact set forth in section 107.
(3) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Compact
Council established under Article VI of the Compact.
(4) FBI.--The term ``FBI'' means the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(5) Party state.--The term ``Party State'' means a State
that has ratified the Compact.
(6) State.--The term ``State'' means any State, territory,
or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia,
and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
SEC. 104. ENACTMENT AND CONSENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
The National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact, as set forth in
section 107, is enacted into law and entered into by the Federal
Government. The consent of Congress is given to States to enter into
the Compact.
SEC. 105. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.
(a) Privacy Act of 1974.--Nothing in the Compact shall affect the
obligations and responsibilities of the FBI under section 552a of title
5, United States Code (commonly known as the ``Privacy Act of 1974'').
(b) Access to Certain Records Not Affected.--Nothing in the Compact
shall interfere in any manner with--
(1) access, direct or otherwise, to records pursuant to--
(A) section 9101 of title 5, United States Code;
(B) the National Child Protection Act;
(C) the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act
(Public Law 103-159; 107 Stat. 1536);
(D) the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-322; 108 Stat. 2074) or any
amendment made by that Act;
(E) the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42
U.S.C. 1437 et seq.); or
(F) the Native American Housing Assistance and
Self-Determination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4101 et
seq.); or
(2) any direct access to Federal criminal history records
authorized by law.
(c) Authority of FBI Under Departments of State, Justice, and
Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act,
1973.--Nothing in the Compact shall be construed to affect the
authority of the FBI under the Departments of State, Justice, and
Commerce, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriation Act, 1973
(Public Law 92-544 (86 Stat. 1115)).
(d) Federal Advisory Committee Act.--The Council shall not be
considered to be a Federal advisory committee for purposes of the
Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.).
(e) Members of Council Not Federal Officers or Employees.--Members
of the Council (other than a member from the FBI or any at-large member
who may be a Federal official or employee) shall not, by virtue of such
membership, be deemed--
(1) to be, for any purpose other than to effect the
Compact, officers or employees of the United States (as defined
in sections 2104 and 2105 of title 5, United States Code); or
(2) to become entitled by reason of Council membership to
any compensation or benefit payable or made available by the
Federal Government to its officers or employees.
SEC. 106. ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION.
All departments, agencies, officers, and employees of the United
States shall enforce the Compact and cooperate with one another and
with all Party States in enforcing the Compact and effectuating its
purposes. For the Federal Government, the Attorney General shall make
such rules, prescribe such instructions, and take such other actions as
may be necessary to carry out the Compact and this title.
SEC. 107. NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION AND PRIVACY COMPACT.
The Contracting Parties agree to the following:
Overview
(a) In General.--This Compact organizes an electronic information
sharing system among the Federal Government and the States to exchange
criminal history records for noncriminal justice purposes authorized by
Federal or State law, such as background checks for governmental
licensing and employment.
(b) Obligations of Parties.--Under this Compact, the FBI and the
Party States agree to maintain detailed databases of their respective
criminal history records, including arrests and dispositions, and to
make them available to the Federal Government and to Party States for
authorized purposes. The FBI shall also manage the Federal data
facilities that provide a significant part of the infrastructure for
the system.
ARTICLE I--DEFINITIONS
In this Compact:
(1) Attorney general.--The term ``Attorney General'' means
the Attorney General of the United States;
(2) Compact officer.--The term ``Compact officer'' means--
(A) with respect to the Federal Government, an
official so designated by the Director of the FBI; and
(B) with respect to a Party State, the chief
administrator of the State's criminal history record
repository or a designee of the chief administrator who
is a regular full-time employee of the repository.
(3) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the Compact
Council established under Article VI.
(4) Criminal history records.--The term ``criminal history
records''--
(A) means information collected by criminal justice
agencies on individuals consisting of identifiable
descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions,
indictments, or other formal criminal charges, and any
disposition arising therefrom, including acquittal,
sentencing, correctional supervision, or release; and
(B) does not include identification information
such as fingerprint records if such information does
not indicate involvement of the individual with the
criminal justice system.
(5) Criminal history record repository.--The term
``criminal history record repository'' means the State agency
designated by the Governor or other appropriate executive
official or the legislature of a State to perform centralized
recordkeeping functions for criminal history records and
services in the State.
(6) Criminal justice.--The term ``criminal justice''
includes activities relating to the detection, apprehension,
detention, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution,
adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of
accused persons or criminal offenders. The administration of
criminal justice includes criminal identification activities
and the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal
history records.
(7) Criminal justice agency.--The term ``criminal justice
agency''--
(A) means--
(i) courts; and
(ii) a governmental agency or any subunit
thereof that--
(I) performs the administration of
criminal justice pursuant to a statute
or Executive order; and
(II) allocates a substantial part
of its annual budget to the
administration of criminal justice; and
(B) includes Federal and State inspectors general
offices.
(8) Criminal justice services.--The term ``criminal justice
services'' means services provided by the FBI to criminal
justice agencies in response to a request for information about
a particular individual or as an update to information
previously provided for criminal justice purposes.
(9) Criterion offense.--The term ``criterion offense''
means any felony or misdemeanor offense not included on the
list of nonserious offenses published periodically by the FBI.
(10) Direct access.--The term ``direct access'' means
access to the National Identification Index by computer
terminal or other automated means not requiring the assistance
of or intervention by any other party or agency.
(11) Executive order.--The term ``Executive order'' means
an order of the President of the United States or the chief
executive officer of a State that has the force of law and that
is promulgated in accordance with applicable law.
(12) FBI.--The term ``FBI'' means the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
(13) Interstate identification system.--The term
``Interstate Identification Index System'' or ``III System''--
(A) means the cooperative Federal-State system for
the exchange of criminal history records; and
(B) includes the National Identification Index, the
National Fingerprint File and, to the extent of their
participation in such system, the criminal history
record repositories of the States and the FBI.
(14) National fingerprint file.--The term ``National
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