State’s criminal database suffers from shortfall

Monday, Feb. 24, 2003 | 8:41 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A statewide database that tracks criminal arrests and court dispositions is falling behind, and budget cuts could exacerbate the situation.

That could result in fewer crimes being solved and offenders getting lighter sentences, the Senate-Assembly public safety subcommittee was told Friday.

The state's Criminal History Repository has been operating with 50 instead of the authorized 61 employees because of budget shortfalls, said Daryl Riersgard, chief of the repository since September. The shortage has left about 110,000 court dispositions and 7,000 arrests waiting to be entered into state computers, he said.

Unless improvements are made at the repository, up-to-date information won't be available to determine if a person is eligible to buy a gun, and there will be no way to track drunken driving and domestic battery arrests made in different jurisdictions, he said.

Misdemeanor domestic battery arrests will not be known to those responsible for completing gun checks required by the Brady Law, he said.

In addition, judges may not have access to records of prior convictions of people they sentence, resulting in reduced penalties, he said.

Also, the backlog in arrest records will hamper police investigations when detectives check the central repository for prior arrests or to compare fingerprints found at a crime scene.

"With less fingerprints in the automated fingerprint system, there will be less crimes solved through automated means," Riersgard said.

Fees from court assessments on criminal suspects have not produced enough money to keep a full staff. Riersgard estimated he will be more than $700,000 short in the budget this year, forcing him to leave the positions vacant.

Assembly members complained that the repository was giving priority to civilian requests over criminal duties.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, said the agency has "chosen jobs over public safety." He was referring to the function of the division to run name and background checks on those who work in such places as casinos, health care facilities and child-care centers.

Fees support these checks of civilians, and some of the money goes to financing the criminal end of the repository.

Jeff Artz, assistant chief of the repository, said those requests are given priority because people must get clearance before they can start work. They call the governor's office if there are delays, he said.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, suggested some of the civil record checks could be eliminated even if it meant losing money.

The agency, which is under the Nevada Highway Patrol, must have a reliable source of funding rather than depending on court assessments if the backlogs are to be reduced.

The subcommittee did not take any action.