On May 8, 2006, Gov. Linda Lingle signed legislation making
Hawaii the 27th state to ratify the
National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. Other states to ratify the compact, known informally as the "Triple I" (for Interstate Identification Index or III) compact, are:
- Montana, which, on April 8, 1999, became to first state to ratify the compact
- Georgia, whose ratification on April 28, 1999, made the compact effective
- Nevada, May 14, 1999
- Florida
, June 8, 1999
- Colorado, March 10, 2000
- Iowa, April 7, 2000
- Connecticut, June 1, 2000
- South Carolina, June 22, 2000
- Arkansas, February 21, 2001
- Kansas, April 10, 2001;
- Alaska, May 7, 2001
- Oklahoma, May 24, 2001
- Maine, June 8, 2001
- New Jersey, January 3, 2002
- Minnesota, March 25, 2002
- Arizona, April 29, 2002
- Tennessee, May 28, 2003
- North Carolina, June 19, 2003
- New Hampshire, June 30, 2003
- Missouri, July 11, 2003
- Ohio, January 7, 2004
- Wyoming, February 17, 2005
- Idaho, March 21, 2005
- Maryland, May 26, 2005
- Oregon, July 7, 2005
- West Virginia, April 4, 2006
- Hawaii, May 8, 2006
Ten other states and territories have signed a
Memorandum of Understanding 
through which they effectively subscribe to the Privacy Compact: American Samoa, Guam, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Vermont.
States Control Record Access
Observers expect most states to ratify the compact in two to five years. (
Documents used to lobby for the compact are provided below.)
The compact became effective following ratification by two states; its provisions now apply between states that ratified the compact and the federal government.
Congresses' approval of the compact, part of the
Crime Identification and Technology Act (CITA) of 1998, gives states control when other states or the federal government access their criminal history record information through III for background checks. President Bill Clinton signed CITA into law on October 9, 1998.
Formal Process for Checks
A council of state and federal officials set up by the III compact governs noncriminal justice use of state criminal history record information, creating a true national partnership between the states and the federal government.
When III is fully implemented, only a state-level offender’s first-arrest information will be sent to the FBI to establish his or her name in the index. All subsequent criminal history information will be stored at the state repository.
An agency seeking criminal history records will electronically contact the FBI, which will direct the inquiring party to the appropriate state or federal database.
Uniform Procedure
When this process occurs, the compact provides a uniform procedure for releasing information that meets the requestor's needs while protecting individual rights and recognizing each state's philosophy regarding record use.
A recognized safeguard like the Triple I compact prevents misuse of criminal history record information and encourages more state repositories to participate in III. This will result in more complete records and will eventually end the costly and time-consuming maintenance of duplicate criminal history records at the state and federal levels.
Origins
Since its inception, SEARCH has advocated the III index-pointer concept that allows state criminal history repositories to be the nation’s primary criminal history information caretakers.
Over the years, SEARCH has participated in discussions, including several rounds of congressional hearings, where it presented the states’ point of view that federal participation in a national criminal history record system should be limited.
The FBI also contracted with SEARCH to help form policy regulating use of III — created by the Bureau in 1978 — and to participate in evaluations to test the index for criminal justice and noncriminal justice criminal history record checks.
Support Documents
