Opinion ID: 76264
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: warrant information

Text: 56 The Georgia legislature established the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) to create a system for the intrastate communication of vital information relating to crimes, criminals, and criminal activity. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-31(a). The GCIC is a division of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, a state agency. O.C.G.A. §§ 35-3-2; 35-3-31(a). Responsibility for the GCIC is vested with the Director of the center, with the guidance of the GCIC Council. 37 O.C.G.A. § 35-3-31(b). 57 The GCIC is charged with operating an information system for all crime and offender data, including warrant information. O.C.G.A. § 35-3-33. The GCIC has developed the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS), which is defined as [a]ll of those agencies, procedures, mechanisms, media, and forms, as well as the information itself, which are or which become involved in the organization, transmittal, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of crime-related information. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-1-.02(2)(b). 58 The GCIC Director and the GCIC Council promulgate extensive rules and regulations (the GCIC Council Rules) for the operation of the CJIS system. See O.C.G.A. § 35-3-32(b)(2), (3), & (5). GCIC Council Rules govern the conduct of the Clayton County Sheriff's Office relating to the CJIS system. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.01(1). As a participant in the CJIS system, the sheriff's office in each Georgia county enters and removes warrant information on the local CJIS terminal, which is in turn connected with the GCIC's statewide CJIS network. Indeed, within the Clayton County Sheriff's Office, employees enter data from the local CJIS system onto the GCIC's CJIS network from the same local CJIS computer terminal. The GCIC Council Rules regulate every aspect of warrant information, from the employee training to when and how a sheriff's office must enter and validate warrant data. 38
59 The GCIC Council Rules establish training requirements for employees in each sheriff's office. See Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.16. A Terminal Agency Coordinator (TAC) is an employee of the sheriff's office, designated by the sheriff, to serve as a liaison between the sheriff and the GCIC for CJIS network-related matters. 39 This TAC employee is trained by GCIC personnel and is subject to certification testing. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.16(3)-(4). The TAC is responsible for record validations, hit confirmations, and training of Terminal Operators. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.16(3). 60 A Terminal Operator 40 is also an employee of the sheriff's office who enters data in the GCIC's CJIS network. Terminal Operators must complete GCIC training workbooks and certification requirements. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.16(5)-(6). Terminal Operators enter criminal warrants into the CJIS network and annually validate them. In the Clayton County Sheriff's Office, these employees use the local CJIS system to gather warrant information and then enter it into the GCIC's CJIS system through the local CJIS terminal.
61 To facilitate the sharing of criminal information, GCIC Council Rules specify the codes, formats, and operating procedures that must be used in entering records, including warrants, into the CJIS network terminals. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.13(a). 41 To ensure its procedures are followed, the GCIC provides procedural manuals and operations bulletins, which contain the necessary codes, procedures and guidance for record entry. 42 Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.13(a). The State publishes a CJIS Manual, which the Clayton County Sheriff's Office lists in its Standard Operating Procedures as a manual required to be kept at its Warrant Office computer terminal. 62 Due to the interdependence of the statewide and local CJIS networks, the local CJIS terminals in the Clayton County Sheriff's Office are subject to GCIC security requirements. The Standard Operating Procedure manual for the Clayton County Sheriff's Office provides that [a]ccess control to both the local level and GCIC [stateside CJIS] ... is an automated function of the local CJIS system. An operator must have a user account and password for access to the local CJIS system. The operator also must have a user account and a password that will clear them for access to the GCIC's statewide CJIS network or the local CJIS terminal will not allow access to the statewide network.
63 Sheriff's offices are required to participate in the GCIC's record verification program, which prescribes the procedures for reviewing the validity of warrant entries contained on the GCIC's CJIS network. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.14. These procedures include reviewing monthly validation listings sent out by the GCIC and checking in some manner with the issuing authority to verify that a warrant has not been recalled or withdrawn. 43 Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.14(1)(b)-(c). Warrant record entries that are no longer valid must be cancelled, and warrant record entries containing erroneous information must be supplemented or corrected. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.14(1)(c)(1)-(2). 44
64 The GCIC Council Rules require a biannual audit of the Clayton County Sheriff's Office. The GCIC Council Rules explicitly make warrant validation procedures, records, and supporting documents ... subject to GCIC and NCIC audits. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.07(1); 140-2-.14(2). Auditors obtain a statistical sample of active wanted, missing person, and stolen vehicle files from the Sheriff's Office and review its files for compliance with the GCIC rules and regulations, including a review of its training records and validation procedures. See Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-.07(2). If the Sheriff's Office violates GCIC Council Rules or network policies, then it is subject to a broad array of sanctions, including suspension or revocation of GCIC network access. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. r. 140-2-19(1). Such disciplinary action may be instituted and implemented only by the GCIC. 45 65 This review of Georgia law demonstrates not only an absence of county control, but also that sheriffs act for and are controlled by the State in their law enforcement function relating to criminal information on the CJIS systems in issue and in their training and supervision of their employees in that regard.