Audit cites loss of criminal records

Thursday, May 9, 2002 | 9:52 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Information stored in a state computer on residents' criminal background is often inaccurate and there is a backlog in processing thousands of criminal fingerprint cards, a legislative audit says.

The report on the state's Criminal History Repository also found that background records were missing from the computer and there has been a lack of security in handling the records.

"Errors and missing data in the criminal history records database reduce the reliability of programs that rely on this information," said the audit, released Wednesday.

The information is used to check the background of those who want to purchase guns and for those applying for jobs in a number of areas, such as casinos, nursing, child care facilities and schools.

Employers use the information to determine if a person should be hired.

Doug Peterson, information systems audit supervisor for the legislative agency, said the examination found that 36 percent of the information entered into the state system on the outcome of a criminal case was wrong.

The information includes whether a person is found guilty or not guilty and the amount of a fine imposed. The data is transmitted from the courts to the state repository.

In a second test during the audit, Peterson said, 3 percent of the information contained errors on such things as name, address, place of birth and tattoos.

Peterson said his crew "found the entire criminal histories for 47 individuals were no longer present in the database." No one was able to explain why the histories were missing, but the fingerprint records remained.

"The bureau has not processed criminal fingerprint cards in a timely manner," the audit said. "Thousands of cards have not been processed and others have not been processed within the two week time-frame established by the bureau.