Bureau of Justice Statistics

Program Report

July 2006, NCJ 211485

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Highlights

National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP)

Improving Criminal History Records 

for Background Checks, 2005

Gerard F. Ramker 

Chief, BJS Criminal History 

Improvement Programs

Introduction

Criminal history records describe an 

arrest and all subsequent actions concerning each criminal event that are positively identifiable to an individual. Accurate, timely, and complete criminal 

history record information —

• enables States to immediately identify 

persons who are prohibited from firearm 

purchase or are ineligible to hold positions of responsibility involving children, 

the elderly, or the disabled 

• enables criminal justice agencies to 

make decisions on pretrial release, 

career criminal charging, determinate 

sentencing, and correctional assignments 

• is critical to assist law enforcement in 

criminal investigations and decision 

making 

• is required for background checks for 

national security, employment, licensing, 

and related economic purposes, as 

required under recent legislation.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics' National 

Criminal History Improvement Program 

(NCHIP) provides grants and technical 

assistance to the States to improve the 

quality, timeliness, and immediate 

Since 1995 criminal records accessible for background checks 

increased 83% and the growth rate in automated records was 57% 

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003

0

25

50

75 Total

Millions of criminal history records

Automated

Ill-accessible

+57%

Percent change

+43%

+83%

1995-2003

• At the end of 2003, States held 

approximately 71 million criminal 

records on individuals. 

• About 9 out of 10 of these records 

were automated and 3 out of 4 automated records were accessible for 

conducting presale firearms and 

other background checks. 

• As of December 2005, 48 States 

belonged to the Interstate Identification Index (III), meeting the FBI’s rigorous standards for participation.

• The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) supports nearly 8 million checks annually 

at the presale stage of firearms purchases. 

• Approximately 1.9% of all applications for firearm purchases were 

rejected, primarily for the presence of 

a prior felony conviction history.

• As of January 2006 — 

- all 50 States, the District of 

Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, 

and the U.S. Virgin Islands 

were contributing to the 

National Sex Offender Registry 

file which held 414,470 

records.

- 45 States, the District of 

Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin 

Islands were submitting data to 

the National Protection Order 

File which held over 949,810 

records. 
2 Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks, 2005

accessibility of criminal history records 

and related information.

The goal of the NCHIP grant program 

is to improve the Nation's safety and 

security by enhancing the quality, completeness, and accessibility of criminal 

history record information and by insuring the nationwide implementation of 

criminal justice and noncriminal justice 

background check systems. Achieving 

this goal is contingent upon accomplishing four objectives —

1. providing direct financial and technical assistance to the States to 

improve their criminal records systems and other related systems to 

support background checks

2. ensuring the infrastructure is 

developed to connect each State's 

records systems to FBI records 

systems and, in turn, to connect 

each State's background check 

databases to one another

3. providing the training and technical 

assistance to States needed to 

insure that records systems are 

developed and managed to conform to FBI standards and the 

most appropriate technologies and 

that States adhere to the highest 

standards of practice with respect 

to privacy and confidentiality

4. assessing and measuring through 

systematic evaluation and standardized performance measurement and statistics, the extent of 

progress in implementing improvements in state-level and national 

records holdings and background 

check systems. 

The NCHIP program serves as an 

umbrella for various records improvements activities and funding streams 

each of which has unique goals and 

objectives. 

Program history

Initiated in 1995 the NCHIP program 

has made awards to all the States, the 

District of Columbia, and 5 U.S. Territories totaling $495 million through fiscal 

year 2005 (see appendix). NCHIP 

awards are based on need rather than 

population or other formula-based 

methodology. California (7.3%), New 

York (6.1%), and Texas (5.2%) have 

received awards totaling $92 million or 

about 19% of total NCHIP funds 

awarded.

In FY 2005 BJS awarded approximately $26 million in NCHIP funds to 

promote continued development of 

criminal records infrastructure. The FY 

2005 appropriation from Congress 

included $24.7 million to support continued assistance to the States and 

localities and an additional $2.91 million to support the development of antistalking databases (files of protection 

and/or restraining order records). 

The FY 2006 NCHIP Program 

Announcement, released in March 

2006, provides for the continued development of the criminal records infrastructure to support NICS and other 

background check purposes. BJS 

urges States to develop a component 

of their program for the courts and 

prosecutors to electronically communicate disposition transactions for inclusion in criminal records. The 

announcement also encourages States 

to incorporate mental health records 

into background check systems.

The FY 2006 appropriation is $9.87 

million for NCHIP plus $2.9 million for 

antistalking databases. The President's proposed budget for FY 2007 

seeks $39.18 million for NCHIP (plus 

$2.94 million for anti-stalking databases) to support a court-directed special emphasis on improving disposition 

reporting.

Authorizing legislation

For 2006 the appropriation for the 

NCHIP program was made pursuant 

to the Crime Identification Technology Act of 1998 and the procedures 

for applying for NCHIP grants reflect 

the provisions of that act. State 

matching funds are required for 

NCHIP applications. The NCHIP program implements the grant provisions for —

• the Crime Identification Technology 

Act of 1998 (CITA), Pub. L. No. 105-

251, 112 Stat. 1871 (1998), codified 

at 42 U.S.C. Section 14601 et seq.

• the Brady Handgun Violence 

Prevention Act (Brady Act), Pub. L. 

No. 103-159, 107 Stat.1536 (1993), 

codified as amended at 18 U.S.C. 

Section 921 et seq. 

• the National Child Protection Act of 

1993 (NCPA), Pub. L. No. 103-209, 

107 Stat. 2490 (1993), codified as 

amended at 42 U.S.C. Sections 

3759, 5101 note, 5119, 5119a, 

5119b, 5119c 

• those provisions of the Omnibus 

Crime Control and Safe Streets Act 

of 1968 (Omnibus Act), Pub. L. No. 

90-351, 82 Stat. 197 (1968), codified 

as amended at 42 U.S.C. Section 

3711 et seq., as amended; and the 

Violent Crime Control and Law 

Enforcement Act of 1994 (Violent 

Crime Control Act), Pub. L. No.103-

322, 108 Stat. 1796 (1994), codified 

as amended at 42 U.S.C. Section 

13701 et seq., which pertain to the 

establishment, maintenance, analysis, or use of criminal history records 

and criminal record systems 

• relevant requirements of the Jacob 

Wetterling Crimes Against Children 

and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, Pub. L. No. 103-322, 108 

Stat. 2038, Megan's Law, Pub.L. No. 

104-145, 110 Stat. 1345, and the 

Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996, 

Pub. L. No. 104-236, 110 Stat. 3093

• the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000, Pub. L. 

No. 106-386, 114 Stat. 1464 (2000) 

and related laws pertaining to the 

identification, collection, analysis and 

interstate exchange of records relating to domestic violence and stalking 

(including protection orders).
Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks, 2005 3

Accomplishments 

NCHIP-funded criminal records 

improvement efforts have achieved 

several successes.

Improved accessibility of records 

All States have received funds under 

NCHIP to upgrade the quality and 

availability of criminal history record 

systems. Funds have been awarded 

for acquisition of advanced equipment, 

development of software, and conversion of manual records to an automated format which permits instant 

access and linkage. Automated criminal records permit immediate access 

for law enforcement and other purposes such as background checks. At 

the end of 2003, States held approximately 71 million criminal records on 

individuals. About 9 out of 10 of these 

records were automated and 3 out of 4 

automated records were accessible for 

conducting presale firearms and other 

background checks. Since 1995 the 

number of criminal records accessible 

for background checks has increased 

83%, while the rate of growth in the 

number of automated records over the 

same years was 57% (highlights).

Full participation in the Interstate 

Identification Index (III) 

To ensure compatibility, all record 

enhancements funded under NCHIP 

are required to conform to FBI standards for III participation. III participation is critical since it constitutes the 

primary system through which the FBI 

accesses State-held data for NICS 

checks. In 1989 only 20 States were 

members of the FBI's III system that 

permits instant access to out-of-state 

data. By yearend 1993, 26 States were 

participants. As of January 2006, 48 

States are members of III indicating 

that they meet the FBI’s rigorous standards for participation.

Automation of records 

and fingerprint data 

States have used funds to establish 

automated fingerprint identification 

systems (AFIS) and to purchase livescan equipment for State and local 

agencies. AFIS enables States to conduct automated searches for records 

based on fingerprint characteristics 

and to interface with the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (IAFIS). 

As of January 2006, 48 States, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories 

(American Samoa, Guam, and the 

U.S. Virgin Islands) participate in 

IAFIS, which became operational in 

July 1999. In addition to ensuring that 

records are properly matched to the 

correct offender, AFIS minimizes the 

time and manpower required for 

searching fingerprint databases, which 

facilitates matching of latent prints 

obtained at a crime scene. 

Livescan equipment permits law 

enforcement to take fingerprints without use of inkpads or other similar procedures and to electronically transfer 

fingerprints to the State's AFIS for 

comparison and matching against 

State and FBI held prints. Almost all 

States have received NCHIP funds to 

use in connection with fingerprint automation systems.

National Instant Criminal 

Background Check System (NICS) 

The Brady Act requires that a background check be conducted using the 

FBI's NICS to identify potential purchasers who are prohibited from purchasing firearms. Over 63 million 

records in thirteen files are used for 

NICS checks (table 1). The effectiveness of the system is dependent on the 

extent to which complete records are 

available in response to system inquiries. NCHIP funds have been used to 

increase the number of records which 

are accessible to the system and to 

fund the development of court systems 

to ensure that records include final dispositions. 

The NICS is now supporting nearly 8 

million checks annually at the presale 

stage of firearms purchases. Since 

1999 under the permanent provisions 

of the Brady Act, almost 48 million 

applications for firearm transfers were 

subject to background checks. Approximately 896,000, or 1.9% of all applications were rejected, primarily for the 

presence of a prior felony conviction 

history, but also in a growing proportion of checks for nonfelony prohibiting 

background factors, enumerated in the 

1968 Gun Control Act as amended 

Table 1. Presale firearms background check databases used for NICS checks 

and record holdings, January 2006 

Types of records accessed

Number 

of records

Total records checked 63,177,363

Interstate Identification Index (III)

Total 56,177,106

State-indexed III records 36,233,286

FBI-maintained III records* 19,943,820

NICS Prohibited Persons Index

Total 3,960,682

Denied persons file 367,933

Illegal/unlawful aliens records 3,329,853

Controlled Substance Abuse Records 619

Dishonorable dischargees 15,046

Citizenship renounced 12,603

Mental defective records 234,628

National Crime Information Center (NCIC) Files

Total 3,039,575

Wanted persons and foreign fugitives 1,241,700

Immigration violator 163,583

Protection order file 949,858

Convicted persons on supervised release 269,962

National Sex Offender Registry 414,472

*Includes Federal and foreign offender records.
4 Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks, 2005

Among the almost 48 million firearm 

transfer applications, 1999-2004, 

checks approved 98.1% and rejected 

1.9%.

Among the 896,000 rejected 

applications, 15% were appealed.

Among the 138,154 appeals, 64% of 

the rejections were affirmed and 36% 

were reversed.

Figure 2

Approvals

47,103,000

 98.1%

Rejections

 896,000

 1.9%

Not appealed

 757,846

 84.6%

Appealed

 138,154

 15.4%

Affirmed

 88,995

 64.4%

Reversed

 49,159

 35.6%

Total Inquiries

47,999,000

(figures 1 and 2). State and local agencies maintain a significant role in background checks, having conducted 

checks on almost half of the applications for firearm transfers or permits in 

2003, while the FBI was responsible 

for the remainder.

National Sex Offender Registry 

Beginning in FY 1998 NCHIP funds 

have been provided to assist States in 

developing and enhancing the operation of State sex offender registries that 

include information on convicted sex 

offenders. These funds have been 

used for purchase of equipment, training, and development of procedures 

required to ensure that released 

offenders are registered with proper 

authorities and that State systems are 

capable of interfacing with the FBI's 

National Sex Offender Registry system. The FBI's permanent National 

Sex Offender Registry became operational in July 1999. As of January 2006 

all 50 States, the District of Columbia, 

Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands were contributing to the 

National Crime Information Center 

(NCIC) file that held 414,470 records.

Domestic violence records 

and protection orders 

NCHIP has put special emphasis on 

ensuring that domestic violencerelated offenses are included in criminal records. The Federal Gun Control 

Act as amended prohibits sales of firearms to persons subject to a qualifying 

domestic violence related protection 

order or convicted of a qualifying 

domestic violence misdemeanor. 

Funds have been awarded specifically 

for development of State protection 

order files that are compatible with the 

FBI's national file so as to permit interstate enforcement of protection orders 

and the denial of firearm transfers to 

prohibited persons subject to a protection order. The NCIC's National Protection Order File became operational in 

May 1997. As of January 2006, 45 

States, the District of Columbia, and 

the U.S. Virgin Islands were submitting 

data to the file which held over 949,810 

records of protection orders. 

Involvement of the Courts and 

Systems Integration to Improve 

Disposition Reporting 

Ensuring that States demonstrate a 

commitment to support court efforts 

relating to the development of record 

systems is among the most important 

priorities of NCHIP. All NCHIP applications are required to demonstrate that 

court needs have been considered.

For FY 2005, 37 States included direct 

funding to the courts or funded courtrelated activities and disposition 

reporting. Such projects totaled over 

$6 million (25%) of the NCHIP funds 

awarded in 2005. The following are 

examples of court improvement 

projects that States are undertaking 

with 2005 NCHIP awards:

The Administrative Office of the Courts 

in Alabama is continuing to expand its 

project to collect criminal disposition 

data from the municipal courts, flagging all court dispositions that are 

domestic violence related, and is 

developing a new arrest-to-court disposition automated matching program. 

The Alaska Department of Public 

Safety (DPS) is providing funds to the 

Alaska Court System for data 

exchange and infrastructure projects, 

including the exchange of court 

records and criminal history data 

between the court system and other 

criminal justice agencies, and providing training and technical assistance to 

users of the court information system.

The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission is developing a comprehensive 

disposition reporting system involving 

Among rejections of firearm transfer applications, nonfelony reasons

increased 5 1/2-fold between 1995 and 2004 

1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

0

25,000

50,000

75,000

100,000

125,000

150,000

175,000

200,000

225,000

Rejections of firearm transfer applications

Total

Felony

Nonfelony

Figure 1
Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks, 2005 5

an improved web entry front-end to 

include error checking, mass update 

capabilities, enhanced charge tracking, 

utilization of the Global Justice XML 

Data Model, and improved justice and 

law enforcement system integration. 

The Arkansas Crime Information Center (ACIC) is using funds to support the 

identification and collection of missing 

disposition information. Funds are also 

being used by the Administrative Office 

of the Courts for completion of a technology project resulting in the automatic transmission of criminal case 

dispositions to the ACIC.

The California Department of Justice 

is implementing a pilot project in two 

county courts to add electronic thumbprint images to dispositions and supporting both the transmission of disposition data from the Administrative 

Office of the Courts to the State repository and the processing of real-time 

automated disposition reporting from 

five counties. 

The Florida Department of Law 

Enforcement (FDLE) is implementing a 

project with the Florida Association of 

Court Clerks to research and obtain 

missing disposition data. FDLE will 

also complete system enhancements 

to provide criminal judges, Clerks of 

Court, and State Attorneys electronic 

access to sentencing and commitment 

data. 

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is 

assisting the courts in developing a 

new court case management system 

that will enable electronic transmission 

of disposition data from the courts to 

the central criminal history repository.

The Hawaii Department of the Attorney General is supporting the upgrade 

of the Judiciary's current telecommunications technology to allow the transmission of criminal justice information 

over the State network to CJIS-Hawaii.

The Louisiana Commission on Law 

Enforcement, in cooperation with the 

Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (ICJIS) Policy Board, the 

Supreme Court, the District Attorneys' 

Association, the Sheriffs' Association, 

and the State Police, is continuing the 

development and implementation of 

the ICJIS and its component systems. 

The Maine Department of Public 

Safety is conducting an analysis of 

both the quality of court disposition 

reporting to the criminal record repository and the contributory factors 

related to low reporting rates, developing a plan to mitigate low disposition 

reporting rates, and finalizing a strategy to link dispositions to the State's 

criminal history record system.

Maryland is researching and identifying existing Arrest and Disposition 

Reporting (ADR) system records lacking final court dispositions and matching arrests to the correct disposition for 

entry into the repository. Also, a process will be created to update the ADR 

system with court disposition information for older records that have no 

court tracking number associated with 

them.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal 

Apprehension is using funds to 

improve information about both misdemeanor domestic violence offenses 

and dispositions and orders of protection by developing integrated standard 

business practices on gathering proper 

identification on targeted misdemeanors and other court disposition data to 

be transferred to the criminal history 

files. 

The Mississippi Department of Public 

Safety, Criminal Information Center 

(CIC) is initiating the testing and installation of an interface between the Mississippi Criminal History System and 

the courts and prosecutor's new case 

management system.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol 

and the Office of State Court Administrators is supporting an initiative aimed 

at improving the accuracy and completeness of Missouri's Criminal History Record System. The project 

involves the identification of missing 

criminal arrests and final disposition 

information through manual field 

research at the criminal justice agencies. 

New Hampshire is using grant funds 

to continue support for its Administrative Office of the Courts to review and 

enter domestic violence and stalking 

restraining orders into the State criminal justice information system and to 

the FBI’s NCIC.

The New Jersey Department of Law 

and Public Safety, in collaboration with 

the Administrative Office of the Courts 

(AOC), is installing livescan units in a 

Camden County Jail which will permit 

an interface with the County Correction 

Information System. Also, the AOC will 

continue to build interfaces between its 

database and the information systems 

of several State criminal justice agencies to allow for an easy exchange of 

critical information and to eliminate 

duplication of effort. 

The New Mexico Department of Public 

Safety is implementing security measures in the Magistrate Courts of New 

Mexico and providing ongoing technical support to the courts and counties 

in transferring data to the State's 

Repository. Funds will also support 

protective order database enhancements necessary to transfer data to the 

New Mexico Law Enforcement Telecommunications System and the FBI's 

NCIC.

The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services providing support 

to the Administrative Office of the 

Courts to continue the identification 

and correction of inaccurate court 

information and to reduce the current 

number of missing dispositions in the 

State Repository. 

North Carolina is initiating the development of a new Criminal Court Information System (CCIS) to replace the 

outdated Automated Criminal Infraction System (ACIS) currently being 

used by the courts in North Carolina. 

The CCIS will greatly increase efficient, accurate, and timely reporting of 

court data into an electronic database 

accessible to all law enforcement 

agencies.

The Ohio Office of Criminal Justice 

Services is continuing its development 

of the Ohio Courts Network to automate reporting and sharing of information.
6 Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks, 2005

The Oregon State Police is carrying 

out a disposition acquisition project 

with the Oregon Judicial Department. 

In Tennessee, funds are being used 

by the Administrative Office of the 

Courts (AOC) to enhance existing 

databases to verify judgment information electronically submitted to the 

AOC and to enable access to the data 

by other courts and criminal justice 

agencies. 

Utah is supporting the development 

and implementation of an electronic filing interface between county prosecutors and the Administrative Office of 

the Courts to eliminate duplicate, manual data entry of prosecutor information by the courts and to research and 

update missing disposition data from 

the courts to be included into the Utah 

Computerized Criminal History system.

In Vermont, the Office of the Court 

Administrator is improving access to 

the judiciary’s criminal case and disposition information, electronic protection orders, and mental health records.

The Wyoming Supreme Court is 

developing a data extraction system 

that maps data from those district 

courts that are experiencing difficulty 

transmitting data to the court's central 

database.

Improved performance 

measurement — The Records 

Quality Index 

To help quantify the impact of NCHIP 

funds, BJS created a Records Quality 

Index (RQI). The purpose of the RQI is 

to measure the performance of criminal history record systems and to help 

BJS to — 

• assess the status of records quality at 

both the State and national levels

• identify critical records improvement 

activities by pinpointing areas of deficiency

• help BJS target specific State- and 

local-level problems and deficiencies 

in NCHIP program announcements.

The Records Quality Index (RQI) is a 

composite of different outcome and 

process measures, including:

• the extent of automation of the State's 

criminal history records

• the response to Interstate Identification Index (III) inquiries

• the automated transmission of arrests 

to the repository

• the criminal history database flagging 

of certain convictions

• the transmission of criminal fingerprints to IAFIS, the FBI's automated 

fingerprint identification system

• the transmission of applicant fingerprints to IAFIS

• the extent of electronic data submission to FBI files

• the transmission of dispositions to the 

repository

• the authorized access to State files 

including sex offender registries and 

registries of the courts' protection or 

restraining orders

• the State's participation in the 

National Fingerprint File and National 

Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact

• the timeliness of criminal case processing in the State

• the completeness of disposition 

reporting in the State.

Similar to how the Dow Jones Industrial Average may be used to gauge 

the performance of the overall stock 

market, the criminal history Records 

Quality Index, based on a small set of 

key measures, characterizes the performance of the States' criminal history 

record systems toward achieving the 

goals of the Federal records improvement programs.

The National RQI (NRQI) is a weighted 

average of the individual State RQI's 

for which the weights reflect the number of criminal history records in each 

State as a proportion of the total. During the seven-year measurement 

period, the NRQI reflects steady 

records quality improvement (figure 3). 

The NRQI nearly tripled between 1997 

and 2003, growing by 169% during this 

period.

The National Records Quality Index (NRQI) increased 169% 

between 1997 and 2003

Figure 3

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

National Records Quality Index

62 68

90

99

128 132

167
Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks, 2005 7

Appendix. NCHIP awards 1995-2005 

Direct awards

Jurisdiction 1995-99* 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total 1995-2005

Alabama $3,127,103 $879,447 $521,574 $499,880 $894,998 $573,000 $626,100 $7,122,102

Alaska 3,456,318 760,000 585,000 475,000 600,000 384,000 268,980 6,529,298

American Samoa 800,000 300,000 300,000 285,000 300,000 250,000 175,000 2,410,000

Arizona 3,888,988 980,000 1,000,000 750,000 1,028,573 493,000 345,000 8,485,561

Arkansas 2,976,857 694,330 630,000 475,000 699,960 383,998 269,000 6,129,145

California 23,095,680 2,350,000 2,238,414 2,200,000 3,000,000 1,922,000 1,425,000 36,231,094

Colorado 3,528,113 960,000 507,000 485,000 735,000 664,240 500,906 7,380,259

Connecticut 4,117,968 700,000 545,000 518,000 657,000 421,000 465,400 7,424,368

Delaware $3,130,837 $491,470 $500,000 $475,000 $600,000 $250,000 $5,447,307

District of Columbia 1,804,095 350,000 329,916 2,484,011

Florida 9,373,486 1,980,000 1,650,787 1,369,000 1,800,000 $1,453,000 973,000 18,599,273

Georgia 6,143,349 803,768 498,979 691,628 1,045,000 669,000 375,600 10,227,324

Guam 799,796 300,000 300,000 285,000 400,000 250,000 175,000 2,509,796

Hawaii 2,967,125 600,000 500,000 500,000 600,000 384,000 468,000 6,019,125

Idaho 1,554,561 342,873 170,000 163,200 142,250 150,000 2,522,884

Illinois 10,372,000 1,590,000 1,352,000 1,284,000 1,669,000 1,069,000 17,336,000

Indiana $5,022,273 $900,000 $964,500 $736,000 $975,000 $612,000 $428,000 $9,637,773

Iowa 2,783,525 238,537 208,915 420,620 561,437 377,093 348,090 4,938,217

Kansas 2,932,319 520,000 540,359 475,000 669,000 429,000 300,000 5,865,678

Kentucky 3,984,961 499,536 507,000 482,000 584,000 384,000 269,000 6,710,497

Louisiana 3,903,751 739,436 578,698 499,000 650,000 416,000 394,000 7,180,885

Maine 4,131,166 90,000 453,000 525,000 384,000 5,583,166

Maryland 4,630,000 922,500 630,462 595,117 627,995 402,000 275,472 8,083,546

Massachusetts 8,275,250 819,762 1,028,000 976,000 1,268,000 812,313 544,000 13,723,325

Michigan $7,151,290 $1,153,032 $1,200,199 $881,382 $1,038,452 $742,000 $520,549 $12,686,904

Minnesota 4,256,989 413,454 984,320 502,000 600,000 384,000 496,500 7,637,263

Mississippi 3,748,079 560,000 534,717 500,000 600,000 384,000 269,000 6,595,796

Missouri 5,172,515 899,133 904,000 652,000 757,627 484,000 338,970 9,208,245

Montana 2,574,486 512,389 546,842 475,341 599,771 384,000 269,000 5,361,829

Nebraska 3,037,053 560,200 553,237 616,825 600,000 384,000 269,000 6,020,315

Nevada 2,500,000 610,000 810,000 513,000 696,000 384,000 269,000 5,782,000

New Hampshire 3,566,713 381,073 407,462 476,996 600,000 384,000 353,691 6,169,935

New Jersey $6,700,533 $1,200,000 $892,980 $848,000 $1,195,000 $766,000 $1,748,800 $13,351,313

New Mexico 4,596,416 579,942 686,860 555,998 563,622 384,000 339,000 7,705,838

New York 17,472,269 2,210,000 2,225,000 2,112,000 2,745,000 1,759,000 1,437,300 29,960,569

North Carolina 4,807,653 809,498 635,000 603,000 663,000 424,996 297,000 8,240,147

North Dakota 2,931,218 562,710 544,470 475,824 600,000 384,000 269,000 5,767,222

N. Mariana Islands - 300,000 285,000 400,000 250,000 1,235,000

Ohio 9,456,526 1,368,256 1,320,627 1,389,214 1,510,000 967,000 648,000 16,659,623

Oklahoma 2,628,198 702,681 549,999 475,000 600,000 384,000 269,000 5,608,878

Oregon $3,678,348 $1,000,000 $807,300 $122,861 $496,000 $347,000 $6,451,509

Pennsylvania 11,395,537 916,600 1,392,000 1,322,000 $1,499,195 961,000 1,654,273 19,140,605

Puerto Rico 812,436 350,000 1,162,436

Rhode Island 2,365,294 520,000 500,000 475,000 600,000 384,000 294,000 5,138,294

South Carolina 5,266,593 990,000 1,195,406 822,000 1,000,000 641,000 449,000 10,363,999

South Dakota 2,012,211 672,693 452,172 488,156 606,895 385,150 270,000 4,887,277

Tennessee 4,166,817 780,161 550,000 531,000 766,000 491,000 384,000 7,668,978

Texas 17,246,275 795,000 2,000,000 2,900,000 1,903,000 1,085,000 25,929,275

Utah $3,073,085 $540,256 $530,000 $475,600 $600,010 $384,000 $324,000 $5,926,951

Vermont 4,514,810 729,157 683,459 609,688 602,959 384,150 298,218 7,822,441

VirginIslands 203,157 300,000 400,000 250,000 175,000 1,328,157

Virginia 6,507,577 1,082,781 1,035,143 1,203,182 1,804,670 1,299,000 1,404,263 14,336,616

Washington 5,111,682 846,000 674,000 800,000 1,194,000 1,040,000 697,000 10,362,682

WestVirginia 3,384,564 668,422 500,000 270,000 600,000 189,577 554,208 6,166,771

Wisconsin 5,267,700 760,000 681,000 647,000 679,000 435,000 562,733 9,032,433

Wyoming 1,052,389 240,104 529,417 285,000 399,028 255,999 179,000 2,940,937

Total $273,457,934 $41,482,328 $38,905,171 $36,842,228 $47,473,392 $31,188,766 $25,881,053 $495,230,872

*1998 awards include National Sex Offender Registry Assistance Program awards.
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Peanlty for Private Use $300

PRESORTED STANDARD

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

DOJ/BJS

Permit No. G-91

*NCJ~211485*

8 Improving Criminal History Records for Background Checks, 2005

This report in portable document 

format and in ASCII and its related 

statistical data and tables are 

available at the BJS World Wide 

Web Internet site: <http://

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/>

Office of Justice Programs

Partnerships for Safer 

Communities

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov

The Bureau of Justice Statistics is 

the statistical agency of the U.S. 

Department of Justice. Jeffrey L. 

Sedgwick is director.

This report was written by Gerard 

F. Ramker, Chief, BJS Criminal 

History Improvement Programs. 

Carolyn C. Williams produced the 

report and provided editorial 

review. Jayne Robinson prepared 

the report for final printing.

July 2006, NCJ 211485

Program assessment

In 2003 the NCHIP program was 

reviewed by the Office of Management 

and Budget using the Program 

Assessment Rating Tool (PART) and 

was determined to be effectively meeting its goals and objectives. A 2004 

U.S. Government Accountability Office 

study for House of Representative 

Committee on the Judiciary also found 

that NCHIP helped States make significant progress in building a national 

criminal records infrastructure.

Efforts carried out under the National 

Criminal History Improvement Program are highly consistent with the 

U.S. Department of Justice's strategic 

goal to, "Improve the crime fighting 

and criminal justice system administration capabilities of State, tribal, and 

local governments." The efforts to 

improve the Nation's criminal history 

records also contribute directly to the 

Office of Justice Programs' goal of providing and coordinating information, 

research and development, statistics, 

training, and support to help the justice 

community build the capacity it needs 

to meet its public safety goals.