Opinion ID: 76264
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Georgia Crime Information Center

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