[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 39 (Thursday, February 27, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9097-9098]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-4611]


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NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION AND PRIVACY COMPACT COUNCIL


Notice of Intent To Publish a Rule Permitting the Privatization 
of Noncriminal Justice Criminal History Record Check Functions

AGENCY: National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Council.

[[Page 9098]]


ACTION: Notice of intent to publish a rule that will permit the 
privatization of administrative functions requiring access to criminal 
history record information for noncriminal justice purposes.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 
Chapter IX, the Compact Council (Council), established by the National 
Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact Act of 1998 (Compact), is issuing 
notice of its intent to promulgate a rule enabling third parties to act 
as agents for governmental and nongovernmental agencies while 
performing administrative functions requiring access to criminal 
history record information (CHRI) for authorized noncriminal justice 
purposes.

    Authority: Title 42, United States Code, Section 14616.

    Additionally, a limited number of third parties will be preapproved 
by the FBI to serve as conduits to send electronic noncriminal justice 
fingerprint requests to, and receive CHRI from, the FBI's Criminal 
Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division for dissemination to 
authorized recipients as provided by federal statute or federal 
executive order.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Cathy L. Morrison, interim FBI 
Compact Officer, FBI CJIS Division, 1000 Custer Hollow Road, Module C3, 
Clarksburg, WV 26306; Telephone (304) 625-2736; E-mail 
[email protected]; Fax number (304) 625-5388.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Council is comprised of federal, state 
and local representatives of criminal and noncriminal justice agencies. 
The Compact authorizes the Council to establish rules, procedures, and 
standards for fingerprint-based noncriminal justice criminal history 
record checks. The Council, in cooperation with the FBI's CJIS Division 
and its Advisory Policy Board, is announcing its intent to promulgate a 
rule that will enable authorized local, state, and federal governmental 
agencies and nongovernmental entities to contract with the private 
sector to perform administrative duties relating to the noncriminal 
justice use of CHRI for employment, licensing, and other authorized 
purposes.
    The reason for the proposed rule is that, over the last several 
years, the volume of authorized fingerprint-based noncriminal justice 
criminal history record checks has escalated. In many states, the 
number of fingerprint submissions for noncriminal justice purposes 
outnumber those submitted for criminal justice purposes. The escalating 
number of noncriminal justice fingerprint submissions has resulted in 
increased workloads for local, state, and federal governmental agencies 
and for nongovernmental entities. Implementation of the Aviation and 
Transportation Security Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and other federal and 
state statutes since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, has 
contributed to the recent increase of authorized criminal history 
record checks. Efforts are underway to modify the CFR to permit 
authorized recipients of CHRI to contract with the private sector to 
accomplish such fingerprint-based criminal history record checks for 
noncriminal justice purposes and to do so in an efficient, effective, 
and secure fashion.

    Dated: February 19, 2003.
Monte C. Strait,
Section Chief, Programs Development Section, Federal Bureau of 
Investigation.
[FR Doc. 03-4611 Filed 2-26-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-02-P