You asked for a description of criminal justice data sharing initiatives in Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Maricopa County Arizona.

SUMMARY

Iowa is creating a criminal justice information system (CJIS) designed to electronically integrate the criminal justice records systems of the courts, law enforcement, corrections, and other governmental entities. The process began in 2001 with the creation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Iowa's governor and Supreme Court chief justice. The MOU established a governing board consisting of representatives of the executive and judicial branches that sets state policy relating to all aspects of CJIS, and an advisory committee that is the active working group overseeing the CJIS initiative.

Much of the information about Iowa's system is taken from its 2005 plan, available online at http: //www. cjis. iowa. gov/cjis_plan_final. html.

Larry Murphy, IT director, Iowa Court Information Systems, and a member of CJIS's advisory board, informed us that Iowa is in the process of implementing three “information sharing exchanges” through CJIS. The first one provides automatic electronic notification to prosecutors when an inmate is scheduled to be released so that the prosecutor can carry out his statutory duty of notifying any crime victims of the inmate's release. The second involves the automatic electronic transmission of traffic tickets from the police officer to the court. The third involves the automatic electronic sharing of driving under the influence arrests and convictions between the police and the courts. These should be up and running this year.

The next step, according to Murphy, is implementing six additional exchanges later this year and early next year. One of these exchanges involves the automatic electronic sharing of certain information among the police, the courts, and the county sheriffs. This information includes such things as the pre-sentence investigation report and the sentencing mittimus, which contains the terms and conditions of the sentence.

The technology key to CJIS apparently is the “enterprise service bus,” which is a “smart” messaging switch that recognizes where the various documents and data should go and instantly sends them to the appropriate agencies.

Murphy indicated that the entire project, which ultimately should involve approximately 100 exchanges, may cost around $ 11,000,000 to establish plus an annual operating fee.

It appears that Pennsylvania has a different type of electronic criminal justice information sharing system than Iowa is establishing. Iowa is creating a system where information is automatically provided to certain other agencies; Pennsylvania's system, by contrast, allows agencies to query each individual agency to get the information they require. Additionally, each connected agency can publish and subscribe to criminal justice events with other agencies.

Apparently beginning in 1996, Pennsylvania began the process to develop a strategic vision for sharing electronic information between justice and justice affiliated agencies. In 1997 Pennsylvania established the Justice Network (JNET) Steering Committee and created a blueprint to provide an architectural outline and implementation plan for the JNET criminal justice information system. Rollout of JNET began in October 1998 and is still evolving.

JNET currently connects all public safety agencies in the state. These include over 750 municipal police departments, the 67 counties, 54 state agencies, and 42 federal agencies. These agencies can access JNET's secure web portal and messaging services. The network currently serves 32,000 state, local, and federal users.

JNET provides web-based access to services and applications from multiple data repositories throughout the United States. These include databases maintained by the National Crime Information Center, Pennsylvania State Police, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, the state Board of Probation and Parole, the state departments of Corrections and Transportation, and the state Juvenile Court Judges Commission. The network provides access to adult probation and prison records management systems in some counties. JNET also provides authorized users with access to arrest mug-shots from Pennsylvania, and the New Jersey, New York HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area).

JNET serves as the messaging broker between county jails, the Department of Corrections, county probation departments, the state Board of Probation and Parole, and the administrative office of Pennsylvania courts, the state police, and county records management systems.

Further information about JNET is available from its website, http: //www. pajnet. state. pa. us/pajnet/site/default. asp.

Maricopa County, Arizona is the county where Phoenix is located. The Maricopa County Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (ICJIS) is the county government department that is responsible for the system integration of the five justice agencies in Maricopa County: Superior Court, Clerk of the Court, County Attorney's Office, Sheriff's Office, and Indigent Representation. The electronic integration facilitates the exchange of data and information between these agencies.

ICJIS was formed in 2000, after the passage of Propositions 400 and 401 in 1998. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors urged voters to adopt the propositions as “vital public safety measures,” funded by the proposed one-fifth cent sales tax. Proposition 400 specified that “Monies” derived from the tax levied pursuant to this resolution must be used for certain things including implementing an integrated criminal justice information system.

According to Gary Huish, project coordinator, in general, ICJIS is set up to accommodate exchanges of data between entities that can connect to the ICJIS Enterprise Service Bus, either directly or indirectly (through state or other county telecommunication structures). Work is done on the sending system to structure the data and send it to ICJIS. The ICJIS integration engine translates, transforms, checks for privacy rights, and then sends it on to the receiving agencies. The receiving agency would then use the data exchange to update its own case management system.

ICJIS has many data exchanges in progress, and has plans for many more. The implementation of future data exchanges is guided by funding and prioritization set by ICJIS stakeholders and Maricopa County.

Except as otherwise noted this information was taken directly from the above referenced web sites.

IOWA

Memorandum of Understanding

In Iowa, the CJIS initiative began in 2001, with the creation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the governor and the Supreme Court chief justice. The MOU established a CJIS board that includes the governor, the chief justice, the director of the Department of Administrative Services, and the state court administrator. It also established an advisory committee.

Board's Duties

The board's duties are to review recommendations submitted by the advisory committee and set state policy relating to all aspects of CJIS, including its design, development, funding, implementation, and operation.

Advisory Committee

The CJIS advisory committee is the active working group overseeing the CJIS initiative. Under the MOU, the advisory committee must be composed of the following members:

1. four Judicial Branch representatives appointed by the chief justice;

2. four Executive Branch representatives appointed by the governor;

3. one representative of each of the following associations: Iowa County Attorney's Association, Iowa State Sheriffs and Deputies Association, Iowa Association of Chiefs of Police and Peace Officers, Iowa League of Cities, and Iowa State Association of County Supervisors (The leadership of each association must appoint the association's representative);

4. two state senators, including one Democrat and one Republican, each to be appointed by the leadership of their respective caucus, to serve as ex-officio members; and

5. two state representatives, including one Democrat and one Republican, each to be appointed by the leadership of their respective caucus, to serve as ex-officio members.

Advisory Committee's Duties and Activities

The MOU requires the advisory committee to conduct an in-depth examination of the criminal justice information systems that existed or were being developed around Iowa and assess their capabilities from both a technological and a procedural perspective. From this examination, it makes recommendations to the board regarding policies in the areas of privacy, security, standards, planning, funding, operations, technology, architecture, legislation, and any other issues related to sharing criminal justice information among and between agencies.

The advisory committee initially undertook a number of activities, including documenting the information exchanges that take place among criminal justice agencies in Iowa, as well as those that occur in the juvenile justice system. These studies documented the workflow as well as process gaps and places where automation would greatly improve the administration of justice in Iowa.

Amended MOU

In 2004, the MOU was amended to require the advisory committee to create a strategic plan to guide CJIS implementation. The amendment required the plan to (1) be based upon interfaces and data transfers and (2) preserve existing information systems, procedures, and business practices of individual agencies. The amended MOU allows the plan to incorporate the use of a common case management system, procedures, and business practices of individual agencies with similar or common functions. But it specifies that CJIS cannot be a single, centralized system, and cannot mandate the elimination or significant modification of individual agency information systems, procedures, and practices.

Requests for Proposals

In December 2004, the state released its request for proposals (RFP) for services associated with the creation of the CJIS Integration Plan. The RFP required a five-year implementation timeframe and cost estimates for those years. It required the vendor to demonstrate its review and understanding of the previous studies commissioned by the advisory committee and included technical requirements around data standards and security. The RFP also required that the plan address specific benefits associated with integration, such as improved decision making and less redundant data entry.

The state received responses from three vendors and selected the team of MAXIMUS and URL Integration. Contracts between the state and the firms were executed in the spring of 2005. Work on the contract began in late April 2005 and extended through August 2005. The Iowa CJIS Integration Plan was delivered to the state in August 2005.

CJIS Plan Implementation

The CJIS Program Office is currently working with CISCO, Inc. to create 10 data exchanges to be used by state and local agencies. These exchanges will be established using the Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) as the primary platform for directing messages and applying business rules appropriate to the information exchange. Currently, CISCO, Inc. and the state are working to install and program the ESB.

The first exchange implemented on the service bus involves sending victim information from the County Attorneys to the Department of Corrections (DOC), and the return of offender release information from the DOC back to the County Attorneys. This exchange was established in early May 2007 as a pilot and is currently being implemented state-wide.

The second exchange is the Electronic Citation Component (ECCO), which involves access to the Department of Transportation's Traffic and Criminal System (TraCS), by local law enforcement agencies and the Judicial Branch. The ECCO exchange is currently in the pilot stage.

The third exchange slated for rollout is the Pre-Sentence Investigation (PSI) report, which is sent from the Department of Corrections to the Judicial Branch. There is a pilot project being developed in four counties in which a PDF version of the PSI is transmitted. By moving this exchange to the CJIS service bus, the number of PSI reports that are transmitted electronically to the Judicial Branch will increase significantly. Testing of this exchange began in June 2007 and should be state-wide soon.

The current (September 2007) schedule for developing the exchanges is described on the CJIS webpage, which is available at http: //www. cjis. iowa. gov/pdfs/CJIS%20Program%20Office%20Update%204%20-%201. pdf.

CJIS Information Security

The CJIS initiative is seeking to ensure information security when establishing information exchanges between agencies. The program office is adopting the best practices associated with the ESB architecture it has chosen. The program seeks to:

1. authenticate that the person, server, or agency requesting the service is who they say they are;

2. ensure that this person or entity is authorized to perform the function they are requesting;

3. ensure that information provided in a message is safeguarded against anyone except an authorized recipient reading the message or parts of the message, using encryption with only the intended receiver having the keys to decrypt it;

4. allow the recipient to verify that the information in a message has not changed since it left the control of the sender, using XML (electronic) signatures when necessary;

5. permit message senders to receive notification of the success or failure of message transmissions, and to permit messages sent with specific sequence-related rules either to arrive as intended, or fail as a group; and

6. allow the recipient to prove a particular, authorized sender has successfully sent a message.

CJIS Program Funding

The state has received over $ 2. 5 million in federal and other non-state funds to support the CJIS initiative. The funds have been used for activities including planning, research, pilot projects, and small-scale implementations. Additionally, the Iowa Legislature has appropriated over $ 6 million to implement CJIS. These funds have been used to purchase, install, and program the related hardware and software. Detailed cost information regarding several of the initiative's components is available at the CJIS website, http: //www. cjis. iowa. gov/.

Larry Murphy, director, Iowa Court Information Systems, and a member of CJIS's advisory board, informed us that the entire project, which ultimately may involve around 100 exchanges, should cost around $ 11,000,000 to establish plus an annual operating fee.

PENNSYLVANIA

Development of JNET

Pennsylvania initiated its Integrated Criminal Justice Project in 1996 to develop a strategic vision for sharing electronic information between justice and justice affiliated agencies. The leadership committee created the framework for the criminal justice system including a strategic vision, requirements analysis, and an action plan. In 1997, the Pennsylvania Justice Network (JNET) Steering Committee was formed. In 1997, the JNET Blueprint was created to provide an architectural outline and implementation plan for the JNET criminal justice information system.

Rollout of JNET began in 1999. A total of 120 users from the steering committee agencies were connected by the end of the year. In 1999 the notifications system and the JNET Messaging Infrastructure were implemented. In June, the governance structure was created and the JNET Office was established at the state police headquarters. JNET began its rollout to 14 pilot counties.

JNET currently connects all public safety agencies in the state. These include over 750 municipal police departments, the 67 counties, 54 state agencies, and 42 federal agencies. These agencies can access JNET's secure web portal and messaging services. The network currently serves 32,000 state, local and federal users.

JNET provides web-based access to services and applications from multiple data sources from Pennsylvania and the FBI. These include databases maintained by the National Crime Information Center, Pennsylvania State Police, the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, the state Board of Probation and Parole, the state departments of Corrections and Transportation, and the state Juvenile Court Judges Commission. The network provides access to adult probation and prison records management systems in some counties. JNET also provides authorized users with access to arrest mug-shots from Pennsylvania and the New Jersey, New York HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area).

In addition to JNET applications and services, the portal links authorized users to other public safety services and components. These include state and federal security threat levels, Amber alerts, sex offender registries, and links to critical public safety information throughout the United States.

JNET serves as the messaging broker between county jails, the Department of Corrections, county probation departments, the state Board of Probation and Parole, the administrative office of Pennsylvania courts, the state police, and county records management systems. JNET facilitates real-time information sharing among agency computer systems.

Information Security

In JNET, a user must present a digital certificate (which identifies the user like a drivers license identifies an individual) in order to get on to a JNET web server and gain access to JNET resources. Through the use of a public key infrastructure (PKI), all data transmitted between the browser client and the servers are encrypted, ensuring data confidentiality. Public key technology and digital signatures are also used to digitally sign e-mail messages (ensuring non-repudiation) and enable secure transmission of e-mail messages (thus providing for data integrity).

Funding

In 1997, the Office of Administration designated $ 11 million in the 1997-1998 budget to begin building the network. The 1999-2000 state budget included $ 9. 3 million for JNET. The current FY 07-08 budget for JNET is $ 8,898,279.

MARICOPA COUNTY ARIZONA

Except where otherwise noted the following information was taken directly from the Maricopa County Integrated Criminal Justice System (ICJS) web page (https: //www. maricopa. gov/icjis/).

The Maricopa County Integrated Criminal Justice Information System (ICJIS) is a county department responsible for the system integration of the five justice agencies in Maricopa County: Superior Court, Clerk of the Court, County Attorney's Office, Sheriff's Office, and Indigent Representation. The integration facilitates the exchange of data and information between these agencies.

How System Operates

According to Gary Huish, ICJIS project coordinator, in general, ICJIS is set up to accommodate exchanges of data between entities that can connect to the ICJIS Enterprise Service Bus, either directly or indirectly (through state or other county telecommunication structures). Work is done on the sending system to structure the data and send it to ICJIS. The ICJIS integration engine translates, transforms, checks for privacy rights, and performs certain other functions, and then sends it on to the receiving agencies, guaranteeing delivery. The receiving agency would then use the data to update its own case management system. ICJIS has many data exchanges in progress, and has plans for many more. The implementation of future data exchanges is guided by funding and prioritization is set by ICJIS stakeholders and Maricopa County.

Shared Information— Corrections, Courts, Probation, and Parole

The courts and probation both report to the presiding judge as part of the Judicial Branch. The court has an integrated case management system that includes Pre-Trial Services and Juvenile Probation; thus, there is direct integration among those entities. Adult Probation is currently on a state sponsored system, but an extract of Maricopa adult probation data is sent nightly allowing adult probation staff to view reports and caseload information.

Data exchanges through ICJIS between the state sponsored adult probation system and the integrated Court system in Maricopa County are planned for the next fiscal year.

The Arizona Supreme Court also has a license (through a memorandum of understanding) to use the ICJIS Justice Web Interface, which is a portal to information from county, state and national databases.

The Arizona Department of Corrections receives packets of information as persons are sentenced to DOC. ICJIS processes help the Clerk's Office assemble this information more quickly, but it is still transmitted in paper form. ICJIS does provide electronic transfer of medical records on sentenced persons to the DOC. This allows the transfer of sentenced persons quicker and reduces jail days at the county level. Now that ICJIS and the Clerk's Office are processing documents with electronic seals, an electronic data exchange of this information is planned for next fiscal year. ICJIS stakeholders are also very interested in receiving data exchanges from the DOC, especially photos of marks and tattoos obtained while people are incarcerated.

The Arizona DOC also has a license (through a memorandum of understanding) to use the ICJIS Justice Web Interface, which is a portal to information from county, state and national databases.

The US (federal) probation department in Arizona is inquiring about the potential use of the Justice Web Interface.

Electronic Exchange of Information among Agencies

By agreement and governance by ICJIS stakeholders, there is no central system or repository within ICJIS or the county. Each stakeholder maintains a case management system or systems and allows data to be exchanged with other partner agencies. Sometimes the data is exchanged in real time, sometimes near real time, or nightly. This information is consumed by the receiving agencies and is then available to the receiving agencies within their own case management system.

Agencies can also use the ICJIS Justice Web Interface to access some information in other criminal justice records systems. The Adult Probation Department, Pre Trial Services, County Attorney's Office, and the Sheriff's office use the ICJIS Justice Web Interface.

Costs

The citizens of Maricopa County voted to approve bond funds in the amount of $ 25 million to start up, implement, and maintain an agency and process to exchange data including criminal history information in Maricopa County. The funds were approved for a seven year project. Near the end of the project term, Maricopa County stakeholders agreed that the benefits far exceeded the cost to fund ICJIS activities into the future as an ongoing agency. The yearly budget for ICJIS is approximately $ 4. 5 million and covers staff (about 17), consultant costs, hardware, software, and other expenses. This budget covers the ongoing maintenance and enhancement of the infrastructure and data exchanges, as well as the development of new data exchanges and processes to benefit the stakeholders.

Additional resources for more details are contained in the ICJIS Bi-Annual Strategic Business Plan, ICJIS Newsletters, and Data Exchange reports, all posted on their website, as well as the SEARCH website. Both sites contain details about ICJIS and the data exchanges (http: //www. maricopa. gov/icjis, http: //www. SEARCH. org/).

GC: dw