News Release
ATTORNEY GENERAL MIKE MCGRATH
STATE OF MONTANA
FOR RELEASE: September 5, 2002
CONTACT: Wilbur Rehmann, 444-6194 or Karen Nelson, 444-9621
McGRATH: STATE FIRST TO USE NATIONAL FINGERPRINT DATABASE
HELENA - Attorney General Mike McGrath said Thursday that Montana recently became the first state in the nation to operate the National Fingerprint File database. The NFF allows states to maintain their own fingerprint records while still sharing criminal justice information with federal and state law enforcement officials around the country.
Prior to Sept. 1, Montana sent a duplicate fingerprint record to the FBI for each felony arrest made in the state. The state and the FBI each maintained fingerprint records. In some cases, federal records were incomplete due to missing court judgments, data entry errors or missing arrest charges.
With the NFF, the state updates its own records and is not required to forward duplicates to the FBI. At the same time, the state continues to share information with federal and state law enforcement officials around the country.
"It's never been more important for federal, state and local law enforcement officials to have speedy access to accurate criminal justice information," McGrath said. "The NFF means states can maintain their own records and be confident the information being used around the nation is up to date."
Here's how the system works. When a law enforcement officer in another state arrests and fingerprints someone and submits those prints to the FBI, if the person has a criminal record in Montana, the FBI will notify Montana. The state then sends a criminal history record directly to the requesting law enforcement agency.
"The FBI congratulates Montana as it continues to lead states toward decentralization and improves information sharing," said Michael Kirkpatrick of the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division. "This concept is instrumental in a cooperative state-federal relationship.
"It contributes both to law enforcement and the public good."
Karen Nelson, chief of the state's Criminal Justice Information Services Bureau, said that later this fall Montana is scheduled to begin electronic fingerprinting and eliminate use of paper fingerprint cards. She said the electronic conversion should reduce waiting time for background checks and fingerprints from days to just hours.
NATIONAL FINGERPRINT FILE
Fact Sheet
- Although Montana is the first state to operate the NFF, Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey and Oregon have been "pilot" NFF states, testing use of the database.
- In April 1999, Montana became the first state to pass the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. The Compact created the mechanism for establishing and enforcing uniform standards for record accuracy, confidentiality and privacy interests of citizens with criminal records. Wilbur Rehmann, project manager for the state's Criminal Justice Information Services Project, is chairman of the 15-member federal and state Compact Council.
- NFF is also a part of the Interstate Identification Index, a record-keeping and exchange system developed between states and the FBI in 1978. Karen Nelson, chief of the department's Criminal Justice Information Services Bureau, said the index was designed to allow for automated exchange of criminal records while reducing duplication of data, effort and cost at the state and federal level.
- The FBI will continue to maintain fingerprint data for federal prisoners.
- The Criminal Justice Information Services Bureau maintains more than 142,000 criminal history records and fingerprint data on persons arrested in the state. In addition, the Bureau maintains the Criminal Justice Information Network that provides access to criminal history records to state and local law enforcement and criminal justice agencies.
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