Ala. Admin. Code r. 265-X-2-.02 - Criminal Justice Information Dissemination Policies And Procedures
(1)
Criminal-History Record Information (CHRI).
(a) Criminal Justice Agencies. Criminal
justice agencies, upon completion of a privacy and security agreement as
specified in this rule, shall be authorized direct access to criminal history
record information for the following purposes:
1. Functions related to the administration of
criminal justice.
2. Criminal
justice agency pre-employment screening and job assignment decisions.
3. Criminal history record information may be
disseminated directly to federal agencies and agencies of other states only if
they are criminal justice agencies within the meaning of these rules.
(b) Non-criminal Justice Agencies.
The following types of non-criminal justice agencies may be authorized indirect
access to criminal history record information upon approval by the appropriate
authority and completion of a privacy and security agreement:
1. Agencies authorized by state or federal
statute or court order to have access to criminal history information may be
granted indirect access to such information. Dissemination will be through the
ACJIC or designated criminal justice agencies. Application for access to
criminal history information under this paragraph shall be addressed to the
ACJIC director.
2. Agencies or
individuals may be authorized access to criminal history record information for
the express purpose of research, evaluative, or statistical activities pursuant
to a specific agreement with the ACJIC and with the approval of the ACJIC
director. Individuals or agencies seeking access under this paragraph shall
submit to the ACJIC a completed research design that assures the security and
confidentiality of the data. Dissemination of criminal records pursuant to this
paragraph will be through the ACJIC.
3. Employers may be granted a subscription to
access the Alabama Background Check (ABC) System in order to receive ABC
reports pertaining to employees or prospective employees or other purposes as
allowed by law. (See Appendix E.) Employers may also designate a third party to
receive this information on their behalf by entering into a "third party users'
agreement" with ACJIC. (See Appendix F.) Employers and/or the employer's "Third
Party User" may only request ABC reports for employees or prospective employees
once a "right to know" has been established. Third Party Users may not provide
and/or share ABC reports with any external agent or entity other than the
"employer" for which the reports were requested.
4. The use of the criminal history
information provided by ACJIC through the Alabama Background Check (ABC) System
shall be limited to the purposes for which it was released. Dissemination will
be through the ACJIC and application for records under this section shall be in
writing to the ACJIC Director or through the Alabama Background Check (ABC)
System administered by ACJIC. Fees shall be charged for disseminating such
records. Such fees shall be set from time to time by resolution of the
Commission as deemed appropriate.
(2) Privacy and Security Agreements. Each
agency or individual authorized access to criminal history record information,
whether directly or through any intermediary, shall enter into a privacy and
security agreement with the ACJIC.
(a)
Criminal justice agencies shall agree to the following:
1. To receive, store, use, and disseminate
criminal history record information in strict compliance with state and federal
statutes and regulations governing criminal history record
information.
2. To make its records
available to the ACJIC for the purpose of conducting periodic audits to
determine compliance with statutes and regulations governing criminal history
record information.
3. To keep such
records as the ACJIC may require to facilitate such audits.
(b) Non-criminal justice agencies
shall agree to the following:
1. To receive,
store, and use criminal history record information in strict compliance with
state and federal statutes and regulations governing criminal history record
information.
2. To restrict the use
of criminal history record information to the purposes for which it was
provided and disseminate it no further.
3. To keep such records as the ACJIC may
require and to make those records available for audit to determine compliance
with appropriate statutes and regulations.
4. To familiarize personnel working with or
having access to criminal history record information with the appropriate
statutes and regulations governing such information.
(3) General Policies on the Use
and Dissemination of Criminal History-Record Information.
(a) Criminal history records obtained from
the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) through the ACJIC are subject to
the policies promulgated by the NCIC Advisory Policy Board.
(b) No agency or individual having access to
criminal history record information maintained by the ACJIC, whether directly
or through any intermediary, shall confirm the existence or nonexistence of
such information to any person or agency that would not be eligible to receive
the information itself.
(4) System Logs. The dissemination of system
logs, as defined herein, shall be limited to the following:
(a) The ACJIC staff, as authorized by the
Director, when necessary for the performance of their duties;
(b) The director of the department, agency,
or other entity whose activity the report concerns;
(c) To any other person or entity upon order
of a court of competent jurisdiction; or
(d) Upon formal, written request to the ACJIC
director, to a criminal justice agency conducting an official investigation of
alleged or suspected criminal activity in which said records may be useful to
the investigating authority.
(5) Information Contained in the Law
Enforcement Data Systems (LEDS). Records and information contained in the
computerized files of the ACJIC's Law Enforcement Data system may be
disseminated to non-criminal justice agencies and individuals pursuant to the
following restrictions:
(a) Individually
identifiable information may be released by an agency having direct access to
LEDS information if a responsible official of that agency determines that it
would be in the best interest of law enforcement to release the
information.
(b) Data not
individually identifiable may be released to any non-criminal justice agency or
individual.
(c) The information is
released to an employer as defined in this administrative rule (or its third
party designee), with a valid subscription to ACJIC's Alabama Background Check
(ABC) System.
Notes
Author: Becki R. Goggins
Statutory Authority: Code of Ala. 1975, ยงยง 41-9-621, 41-9-636, 41-9-642.
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