
2022 Annual Meeting Resources
SEARCH’s 2022 Annual Membership Group Meeting drew attendees from 46 different states, who participated either on-site at the Grand Hyatt Denver in downtown Denver, Colorado, or who joined virtually via the Zoom platform.
The Annual Meeting, held July 19–21, featured key sessions and workshops and speakers from state and federal government, national organizations, and private industry. It kicked off on Tuesday, July 19, with a welcome address from Mr. John Camper, Director of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
As SEARCH’s governing body, the Membership Group meets twice yearly to discuss, analyze and strategize on key policy, operational and technical issues impacting justice information sharing. Federal and state government partners, as well as industry leaders, also attend to share critical information about new programs, services and emerging trends. In turn, they learn about Members’ operational perspectives and the state’ justice information sharing challenges and needs.
The 2022 Annual Meeting featured the following sessions:
- A briefing from on recent legislative activities of Congress, as well as a briefing with Congressional staff on the Fresh Start Act of 2021 (which authorizes the Justice Department to award grants to states to implement automatic expungement laws) and a detailed discussion of the provisions of the newly signed Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.
- Briefings from the Acting Director of the Bureau of Justice Statistics and Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and from key federal justice agency staff on collaborative efforts to improve the quality of criminal history record information, and to discuss the status of NICS, NIBRS, and Nlets.
- Roundtable sessions during which SEARCH Members shared experiences and information on priority issues and programs in their states, as well as common criminal history auditing practices.
- Exploring the use of criminal history records for research that addresses risk, recidivism, redemption, and data quality.
- A discussion of evolving trends in criminal justice science and technology, research and policy.
- Issues surrounding implementation of Public Law 92-544 (which empowers the FBI to exchange identification records with state and local governments for licensing and employment purposes).
- A look at the findings and recommendations of a National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, which assessed the enduring impact of COVID-19 on crime, justice, and public safety operations, and criminal history data quality nationwide.
- A status report on records clearance efforts around the country and the key elements of these efforts.
- A discussion of expanded collaboration and partnership between SEARCH (representing state criminal history repositories) and the Justice Research and Statistics Association (representing state statistical analysis centers).
SEARCH is planning its 2023 Winter Membership Group Meeting for January 24–26, 2023, at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle, WA. We will post updates on planning for SEARCH’s 2023 Winter Meeting at meetings.search.org.
Photos from the 2022 Annual Meeting
SEARCH is governed by a Membership Group that includes one gubernatorial appointee from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories. Members are primarily state-level justice officials responsible for operational decisions and policy on managing criminal justice and criminal history information, and related identification and telecommunications technology. The SEARCH Chair also selects eight At-large Members from government, organizations and academia, to provide a balanced representation of justice disciplines and to bring special expertise and broad perspectives to the Group. The Membership Group typically meets in January and July each year.