CHAPTER 244
HB 643-FN – FINAL VERSION
30Mar2005… 0520h
13Apr2005… 1013h
05/26/05 1512s
29Jun2005… 2116eba
2005 SESSION
09/01
HOUSE BILL 643-FN
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill establishes the “one network environment for justice,” an integrated criminal justice information system to be known as “J-One.”
This bill is a request of the commission to study the creation of an integrated criminal justice information system, established by 2003, 24.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
30Mar2005… 0520h
13Apr2005… 1013h
05/26/05 1512s
29Jun2005… 2116eba
05-0570
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT establishing an integrated criminal justice information system.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
244:1 Purpose. The purpose of this act is to create the “One network environment for justice,” an integrated criminal justice information system known as J-One, for the following purposes:
I. To promote the efficiency of state government by reducing the cost of collecting, retrieving, and disseminating criminal justice information by criminal justice agencies.
II. To improve public safety and domestic security by allowing criminal justice agencies to record, share, and retrieve criminal justice information in a timely fashion.
III. To improve public safety by providing criminal justice agencies, legislators, and the public with statistical information about the criminal justice system for analysis and development of public policy initiatives.
IV. To promote the administration of justice for all citizens by increasing efficiency in the collection and maintenance of criminal justice information and by improving the accuracy, timeliness, and transmission of information among criminal justice agencies.
V. To enhance the public’s understanding of the criminal justice system and the development of sound public policy in the area of criminal justice by making available comprehensive statistical information on the arrest, prosecution, and disposition of individuals charged with crimes in the state of New Hampshire.
VI. To protect personal privacy.
244:2 New Chapter; Criminal Justice Information System. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 106-I the following new chapter:
CHAPTER 106-J
CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION SYSTEM
106-J:1 Definitions. In this chapter:
I. “Administration of criminal justice” means the performance of detection, apprehension, detention, pre-trial release, prosecution, post-trial release, adjudication, correctional supervision, rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders, criminal identification activities, and the collection, storage, and dissemination of criminal history record information.
II. “Board” means the New Hampshire criminal justice information system board, established in RSA 106-J:5.
III. “Criminal justice agency” means any court other than a probate court or any government agency, or subunit thereof, which performs the administration of criminal justice pursuant to the New Hampshire constitution, a statute, or an executive order and which allocates a substantial part of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice.
IV. “Criminal justice information” means information pertaining to natural persons collected by criminal justice agencies that provide individual identification of record subjects together with notations relating to such persons’ involvement in the criminal justice system as alleged or convicted offenders. The term includes information relating to arrests; pre-trial detention or release; formal documents setting out criminal charges; dispositions; post-trial release; sentences; correctional pre-sentence investigations; probation and parole status and conditions; parole or probation violations; warrants; and court scheduling orders, such as transport orders and hearing notices. The term also includes juvenile protective orders issued pursuant to RSA 169-C:16:I(d)(1) or RSA 169-C:19, II(a)(1), domestic violence protective orders issued pursuant to RSA 173-B, restraining orders issued pursuant to RSA 458:16, I(a), (b), (c), or (d), and stalking orders issued pursuant to RSA 633:3-a. The term “criminal justice information” does not include:
(a) Information relating to juveniles other than those who are charged as adults.
(b) Information contained in intelligence files, investigation records, law enforcement work product record files, or law enforcement work product records used solely for law enforcement investigation purposes.
(c) Fingerprints or other biometric data taken for non-criminal purposes.
V. “Disposition” means information disclosing that criminal proceedings have concluded, and the nature of the termination. The term includes, but is not limited to, the following types of terminations: dismissal, nolle prosequi, acquittal, guilty plea, mistrial, not guilty by reason of insanity, a finding of incompetency to stand trial, pardon, commutation, probation, parole, as well as information that a law enforcement agency has elected not to refer a matter for prosecution, that a prosecutor has elected not to pursue criminal charges, or that the proceedings have been indefinitely postponed and the reason therefor.
VI. “Driver’s license information” means information in motor vehicle records that identifies a person, including a person’s photograph or computerized image, social security number, driver identification number, name, address, and telephone number.
VII. “Member” refers to any criminal justice agency that contributes data to J-One.
VIII. “Member user” means any individual employed by a member agency who is authorized by the head of that agency to access J-One.
IX. “Motor vehicle records” has the same meaning as in RSA 260:14, I(a).
X. “Personal information” means information that identifies a person, including a person’s photograph or computerized image, social security number, driver identification number, name, address, telephone number, fingerprints, and physical description.
106-J:2 Criminal Justice Information System (J-One). There is established an integrated criminal justice information system, hereafter known as J-One, the purpose of which is to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the criminal justice agencies through the capture of data at its source; to facilitate the distribution of criminal justice data electronically to authorized members; and to provide individual case and statistical queries electronically. J-One shall consist of a network of computers, including hardware, software, and telecommunications lines, which shall be accessible only by criminal justice agencies and used only for the administration of criminal justice.
106-J:3 Requirements for J-One.
I. J-One shall be designed to capture from member agencies criminal justice information relating to the following, and consisting solely of the data elements identified in the February 15, 2002 NH - CJIS Data Dictionary Version 1.0:
(a) Arrests and criminal incidents: including statistical data on criminal incidents, which is currently submitted to the National Incident Based Reporting System; and information relating to felony, misdemeanor and violation-level arrests such as the arrestee’s name, date of birth, address, physical description, tracking number, motor vehicle registration information, driver’s license information, aliases, social security number, photograph, fingerprint data, bail status, custody status, arraignment date, name of arresting officer, arresting agency, type of offense, charge or charges, date of offense, and date of arrest.
(b) Disposition and sentencing: including, but not limited to, the defendant’s personal information and tracking number, court identifier, type of offense and statutory reference, manner of disposition, type and terms of sentence.
(c) Bail orders, bench warrants, and restraining orders: including, but not limited to, bail conditions, active arrest warrants and capiases, juvenile protective orders issued pursuant to RSA 169-C:16 or RSA 169-C:19, domestic violence protective orders issued pursuant to RSA 173-B, restraining orders issued pursuant to RSA 458:16, I(a), (b), (c), or (d), and stalking orders issued pursuant to RSA 633:3-a. Member agencies shall be able to access information through a query/response function.
II.(a) All criminal justice information entered into J-One related to a criminal charge, including arrest and bail information, shall be expunged from J-One upon the occurrence of any of the following events:
(1) The charge is nolle prossed.
(2) The defendant is acquitted of the charge.
(3) The charge is dismissed.
(4) A court has ordered expungement of the records pursuant to RSA 651:5.
(b) If an arrest resulted in multiple charges against a person, and less than all of the charges were disposed of in a manner listed above, only the information specifically relating to charge or charges that were dismissed, nolle prossed, or resulted in an acquittal shall be expunged.
(c) J-One shall, on a monthly basis, identify all criminal charges in the criminal justice information database that were entered 3 years earlier for which no dispositional data has been entered. J-One shall notify the court of record for each charge. If the charge has been disposed of, the court shall, within 90 days, enter the disposition into J-One. If the charge is still pending, the court shall so indicate in J-One. If, after 90 days, the court has not entered either a disposition or status update in J-One, J-One shall notify the charging agency. That agency shall, within 90 days, take the necessary steps to have the charge disposed of and the disposition entered into J-One. If the charging agency is pursuing the charge, it shall, within 90 days, submit a report to J-One indicating that the case remains active. If the agency does not respond, all criminal justice information relating to that specific charge shall be expunged. If the agency indicates that the charge is still active, J-One shall, every year thereafter, require a status update from the agency, provided no disposition has been entered in the interim.
III. J-One shall provide a communication link to the court case management system, for the purpose of exchanging case management information such as arraignment and hearing dates and transport orders.
IV. Until such time as the department of corrections is a fully-functional member of J-One, and as the department upgrades its computer system, J-One shall provide a query/response communications link to the department’s offender management and field services case management computer system.
V. J-One shall include a notification function, which will alert a member agency that data matching a set of criteria, established by the agency with the approval of the board, has become available in the central repository. A notification may include, for example, notice to a parole/probation officer that a particular parolee has been detained or arrested by the police; or notice to a police officer that a person on whom the officer has submitted a query has outstanding warrants, bail conditions, or protective orders
VI.(a) The J-One system shall maintain a master name index, which shall only be populated by, and accessible to, authorized individuals within the state police, member police and sheriff’s departments, and authorized investigators within the department of justice and the county attorneys’ offices. Authorized member users may access the index only for purposes of obtaining information related to an on-going criminal investigation. For each query, the member user shall provide his or her name, the name of the person initiating the request, the name of the specific individual being queried and the agency case number to which the query is related.
(b) The master name index shall serve as a pointer system, enabling authorized users to determine which, if any, member agencies have information relating to a specific individual that the agency is willing to share. The data contained in the index shall be provided by law enforcement agencies on a voluntary basis, and shall consist of the following only: the individual’s name, date of birth if known, known aliases, the contributing law enforcement agency, the agency case number, and the associated crime.
(c) The master name index shall not include the names of individuals who were witnesses to, or victims of the identified crime, nor shall it include non-criminal complainants.
(d) The master name index shall be maintained separately from the database for criminal justice information. It shall be accessible through a query function, by authorized member users only. A query in the master name index shall not enable the user to access the criminal justice information database. There shall be an audit trail for each query and for each entry of a name into the index.
(e) J-One shall, on a monthly basis, expunge from the master name index any name that has had no activity for 5 years. For purposes of this subparagraph, “activity” means any submission of additional information or query on the name with a new agency case number.
106-J:4 Design, Implementation, and Operation. J-One shall be designed, implemented, and operated to:
I. Ensure that all criminal justice data is validated as complete, accurate and meeting the business rules established by the board prior to its inclusion in J-One;
II. Provide for varying levels of access to criminal justice information, in order to ensure that member agencies will have access only to that information that is relevant for an articulated purpose consistent with their statutory or constitutional responsibilities;
III. Prevent access to anyone other than a criminal justice agency; provided, however that access in print and over the internet to statistical and aggregate criminal justice information from which personal information has been removed, shall be provided to the general public;
IV. Prevent the unauthorized addition, destruction, or modification of criminal justice information; and
V. Provide an audit function that will track each transaction, including but not limited to access, data input, and data modification.
106-J:5 Board Established.
I. There is hereby established the New Hampshire criminal justice information system board, which shall oversee the development and implementation of J-One. The board shall consist of the following members:
(a) The commissioner of the department of safety, or designee.
(b) The attorney general, or designee.
(c) The commissioner of the department of corrections, or designee.
(d) The director of the administrative office of the courts, or designee.
(e) The chief information officer of the office of information technology, or designee.
(f) The president of the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, or designee.
(g) The president of the New Hampshire Sheriffs’ Association, or designee.
(h) The director of the New Hampshire police standards and training council, or designee.
(i) The director of Justiceworks, or designee.
(j) The director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire, or designee.
(k) The president of the New Hampshire Association of Counties, Corrections Affiliate, or designee.
II. The board shall:
(a) Oversee the planning, implementation, operation, and management of J-One.
(b) Pursue, develop, and coordinate grants and other funding opportunities for the continued development, operation, and maintenance of the J-One system.
(c) Adopt strategic and tactical planning goals and objectives that implement, maintain, and enhance the sharing and integrated delivery of criminal justice information within the parameters set forth in RSA 106-J:3 and RSA 106-J:4.
(d) Adopt bylaws and rules to govern the functions and decision-making processes of the board.
(e) Recommend to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate those legislative changes and appropriations needed to implement, maintain, and enhance J-One, to ensure the timely, accurate, and complete exchange of criminal justice information.
(f) Establish and staff advisory committees, the purpose of which will be to advise the board and to draft rules and standard operating procedures with respect to the following areas, at a minimum: operations, technology, finances, privacy, security, and the master name index.
(g) Establish a procedure by which an individual, upon written request and submission of a fee established by the board, may obtain a copy of any criminal justice information contained in J-One relating to the individual, and have corrections made to any of the data proven to be incorrect.
(h) Create a database of criminal justice information from which all personal information has been deleted, which shall be accessible by the public. The board shall establish a fee schedule for access to the database by individuals, researchers, government entities, public officials, and not-for-profit and for-profit enterprises, which shall cover the costs of maintaining the database. In establishing the fee schedule, the board shall ensure, to the extent possible, that individuals will not be prevented from gaining access to the database due to an inability to pay.
106-J:6 Confidentiality. All data stored in J-One shall be confidential and shall be exempt from disclosure under RSA 91-A; provided, however, that nothing in this chapter shall affect the continued application of RSA 91-A to such information, to the extent that it is collected and maintained separately by a member agency.
106-J:7 Criminal Penalties.
I. It shall be a class B misdemeanor for any person to access J-One, or cause another to access J-One, knowing that the person gaining access is unauthorized to do so.
II. It shall be a class B misdemeanor for any authorized user of J-One to access J-One for a purpose unrelated to that person’s official duties in connection with the administration of justice; provided, however, that if the authorized user accepts money or other consideration from another in exchange for the unauthorized access, it shall be a class A misdemeanor for a first offense or a class B felony for a second or subsequent offense.
III. Any person who pays, or provides any other consideration to, an authorized user of J-One in exchange for that user gaining access to J-One for an unauthorized purpose shall be guilty of a class A misdemeanor for a first offense or a class B felony for a second or subsequent offense.
IV. For purposes of this section, the term “access” has the same meaning as in RSA 638:16, I.
V. Each act in violation of this statute shall constitute a separate offense.
244:3 New Paragraph; Child Protection Act; Preliminary Disposition. Amend RSA 169-C:16, by inserting after paragraph I the following new paragraph:
I-a. Notwithstanding RSA 169-C:25, a copy of each protective order issued pursuant to RSA 169-C:16, I(d)(1) shall be transmitted to the administrative office of the courts electronically or by facsimile. The administrative office of the courts shall enter information regarding the protective order into the state database, which shall be made available to the police and sheriffs’ departments statewide. It shall also update the database upon expiration or termination of the order.
244:4 New Paragraph; Child Protection Act; Dispositional Hearing. Amend RSA 169-C:19 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
II-a. Notwithstanding RSA 169-C:25, a copy of each protective order issued pursuant to RSA 169-C:19, II(a)(1) shall be transmitted to the administrative office of the courts electronically or by facsimile. The administrative office of the courts shall enter information regarding the protective order into the state database, which shall be made available to the police and sheriffs’ departments statewide. It shall also update the database upon expiration or termination of the order.
244:5 Contingent Renumbering. If SB 46 of the 2005 legislative session becomes law, then all references to RSA 106-J in this act shall be renumbered as RSA 106-K.
244:6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.
(Approved: July 14, 2005)
(Effective Date: January 1, 2006)