Each state has a central repository for receiving criminal history information contributed by law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, courts, and corrections agencies throughout the state. Each repository compiles this information into criminal history records (commonly called “rap sheets”), which are to be made available to criminal justice personnel for authorized purposes. Typically, a criminal history record is created for each individual offender (each “subject”). The record is to contain relevant identifiers (including fingerprints) and information about all arrests and their dispositions, such as whether the criminal charges were dropped or resulted in an acquittal or a conviction. Efforts to improve criminal history records nationwide predate NCHIP by more than 2 decades. For example, the development of computerized criminal history systems in the states was a priority of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, established by the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968. Also, during much of the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s—largely without specifically appropriated funds—BJS (or its predecessor, the National Criminal Justice Information and Statistics Service) took the lead in encouraging states to computerize criminal records and ensure conformity with evolving FBI standards. In the 1990s, efforts to improve the accuracy, completeness, and accessibility of criminal history records received an impetus with passage of various federal statutes, particularly the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (“Brady Act”), which, among other things, authorized grants for the improvement of state criminal history records and amended the Gun Control Act of 1968; the National Child Protection Act of 1993, which was enacted to provide national criminal background checks for child care providers; and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which, among other things, strove to improve access to court protection orders and records of individuals wanted for stalking and domestic violence. With initial grant awards to states in 1995, NCHIP was designed by BJS to implement these federal mandates to improve public safety by enhancing the nation’s criminal history records systems. In 1998, NCHIP’s scope was expanded in response to federal directives to develop or improve sex offender registries and to contribute data to a national sex offender registry. Also, in 1998, the “permanent” provisions of the Brady Act went into effect with the implementation of NICS—the computerized system designed to instantly (as the name indicates) conduct presale background checks of purchasers of any firearm (both handguns and long guns). In contrast, the “interim” provisions of the Brady Act (effective from 1994 to 1998) applied to handgun purchases only, and law enforcement officers were allowed a maximum of 5 business days to conduct presale background checks for evidence of felony convictions or disqualifying information. The effectiveness of NICS depends largely on the availability of automated records—including the final dispositions of arrests, such as whether the criminal charges resulted in convictions or acquittals. In this regard, many criminal justice agencies, from police departments to the courts, are generators of records relevant to NICS. Over the years, BJS has tried to ensure that the use of NCHIP funds was closely coordinated with the federal Edward Byrne Memorial Grant Program, which requires that states use at least 5 percent of their awards for improving criminal history records. All 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories have been recipients of NCHIP grant awards, which totaled more than $438 million during fiscal years 1995 through 2003. Also, as mentioned previously, to ensure national compatibility and accessibility of records, recipients’ uses of NCHIP funds must conform with the FBI’s standards for national data systems—including, as applicable, NICS, NCIC, III, and IAFIS. Regarding IAFIS, for example, most states have some type of automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS); a state can use NCHIP funds to enhance its AFIS by purchasing Livescan equipment, if the state has implemented (or is implementing) procedures to ensure that the AFIS is compatible with FBI standards. More details about the national data systems are presented in appendix II. For the recent fiscal years we studied, states used NCHIP grants primarily to support NICS in conducting background checks of firearms’ purchasers. According to BJS data, a total of $165.2 million in NCHIP grants was awarded during fiscal years 2000 through 2003. Of this total, a majority— over 75 percent—was used for NICS-related purposes that encompassed a broad range of activities, such as converting manual records to automated formats and purchasing equipment to implement computerized systems or upgrade existing systems. All other uses of NCHIP grants during this period, according to BJS, also had either direct or indirect relevance to building an infrastructure of nationally accessible records, such as implementing technology to support the automated transfer of fingerprint data to IAFIS. We found that a state’s participation status in NICS— whether the state was a full participant, partial participant, or nonparticipant—made little difference in how NCHIP funds were used by states. As indicated in table 1, NCHIP award amounts can be grouped into six spending categories in which BJS awarded a total of $165.2 million in NCHIP grants for fiscal years 2000 through 2003. A majority of these funds was used for NICS-related purposes. For example, the two largest categories of spending—NICS/III/criminal records improvements and disposition reporting improvements—accounted for over 75 percent of total program awards during this period. Both categories directly affected NICS. The NICS/III/criminal records improvements category affected NICS by focusing on activities for improving records related to federal firearms disqualifiers and enhancing access to these records through III. Similarly, the disposition reporting improvements category provided access to information about the disposition of arrests—information that is critical for determining whether persons are legally prohibited from purchasing firearms. Regarding this category, BJS encourages states to focus on making systemic improvements rather than using staff to manually research records to determine dispositions. Nonetheless, according to BJS, states may use NCHIP funds to research arrest dispositions in response to specific NICS-related queries, if the information is subsequently added to the automated system. BJS officials could not quantify the NCHIP grant amounts that all states have allocated for staff to research arrest dispositions. Officials in 2 of the 5 case-study states indicated that their states had used NCHIP funding to research missing arrest dispositions and update criminal history records in response to specific NICS-related queries. One of these states (Maryland) used $41,000 of its fiscal year 2002 NCHIP award to fund a full-time position for researching the state’s archived criminal history records. Also, table 1 shows that BJS awarded 3 percent of NCHIP funding specifically for protection order activities to improve records related to this firearms-purchase disqualifier. The other categories in table 1AFIS/Livescan activities, sex offender registry enhancements, and national security/antiterrorism activitieswere for records improvement efforts that do not directly impact NICS. However, according to BJS, even if not NICS-related, each of the six spending categories in table 1 had either direct or indirect relevance to building an infrastructure of nationally accessible records, such as implementing technology to support the automated transfer of fingerprint data to IAFIS. Appendix III presents more information about the use of NCHIP funds in the 5 case-study states, and appendix IV presents information about the use of NCHIP funds in the 5 priority states. As mentioned previously, for purposes of NICS background checks of persons purchasing firearms, states are categorized as full participants, partial participants, or nonparticipants. As table 2 shows, we found little difference in the use of NCHIP funds by states based on their participation status in NICS. With relatively minor exceptions, the relative order of spending across categories was the same in all three types of states. Of the various spending categories, NICS/III/records improvements reflected the largest difference in percentage points—that is, a difference of 12 percentage points between the partial participant states (47 percent) and the full participant states (35 percent). A BJS official stated that this difference is not substantial and might occur because some states have legislation with slightly different prohibitors for purchasing firearms. Using their own funds, in addition to NCHIP grants and other federal funds, states have made progress in automating criminal history records and making them accessible nationally. For example, the percentage of the nation’s criminal history records that are automated increased from 79 percent at the end of 1993 to 86 percent at the end of 1995 and to 89 percent at the end of 2001, according to BJS’s most recent biennial survey of states. To ensure national compatibility and accessibility of records, recipients’ uses of NCHIP funds must conform with the FBI’s standards for national data systems—including, as applicable, NICS, NCIC, III, and IAFIS. Such conformance is important, for example, because III is the primary system used to access state-held data for NICS checks. The number of states participating in III increased from 26 at the end of 1993 to 30 at the end of 1995 and to 45 by May 2003, indicating growth in compatible automated records. On the other hand, progress has been more limited for some NICS-related purposes. For example, automated information on the disposition of felony and other potentially disqualifying arrests is not always widely available. Also, automated information is not always available to identify other prohibited purchasers of firearms, such as persons convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, persons adjudicated as mental defective, or persons who are unlawful users of controlled substances. In fiscal year 2004, BJS plans to begin using a new, performance-based tool for making NCHIP funding decisions.