SEARCH News

SEARCH welcomed a new Chair to its Board of Directors following elections during SEARCH’s Annual Membership Group Meeting, held July 24–26, 2018, in Washington, D.C.

Ms. Leslie Moore, Director of the Information Services Division, Kansas Bureau of Investigation, was elected Chair by acclamation of the Membership Group on July 24. Ms. Moore has served as a governor appointee to the SEARCH Membership Group since 2012, and was first elected to the Board in 2015.

Also newly elected to the Vice Chair position is Ms. Julie Butler, Administrator of the Records, Communications and Compliance Division, Nevada Department of Public Safety.  She had been serving as Vice Chair since January 2018, when she was elected to fulfill the remaining term of former Vice Chair Joe Morrissey, who retired in 2017.  At the July 24 meeting, Ms. Butler was also elected Vice Chair by acclamation of the Membership Group.

Both Ms. Moore and Ms. Butler will serve two-year terms that expire in July 2020. Their elections resulted in the first time in nearly 50 years of SEARCH’s existence that the top two Board officers are women.

Prior to the election, Members approved a change to SEARCH Bylaws, which reserves a seat on the Board  of Directors for the Immediate Past Chair. The bylaw change, instituted to ensure leadership continuity, gives the Immediate Past Chair the option to serve for another two-year cycle. Mr. Bradley Truitt, Director of  Information Systems, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, opted to serve in this capacity until July 2020.

The Membership also held elections for four State and two At-Large positions; these were filled by a mix of incumbents up for re-election and Members who are joining the Board for the first time. They will serve two-year terms that expire in July 2020.

Elected for the first time were: 

• Jason Bright, Supervisor of the Criminal Records & Identification Services Section, Criminal Investigation Division, Montana Department of Justice.
• Adam Dean, Director of the Office of Criminal Justice Records, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services.
• James Lynch, Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland (At-Large Member).

Re-elected to a second term were:

• Daniel Foro, Senior Advisor, New York State Sheriffs’ Association Institute (At-Large Member).
• Major Brandon Gray, Commanding Officer, Identification & Information Technology Section, New Jersey State Police.
• Kathryn Monfreda, Acting Director, Division of Statewide Services, Alaska Department of Public Safety.

Continuing their service on the Board are the following Directors, whose terms expires in July 2019:

• Rickeya Franklin, Ohio Attorney General’s Office
• Robert Merwine, Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
• Wyatt Pettengill, North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation
• David Steingraber, National Criminal Justice Association (At-Large Member)
• Major Jennie Temple, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division
• Robert Wessels, Texas Judicial Committee on Information Technology (At-Large Member)

SEARCH’s 15-member Board of Directors, elected by the full Membership Group, provides general oversight and translates corporate goals and objectives into program directives and operating policies. Board Members serve 2-year terms, and include 11 State-appointed and 4 At-Large Members.