TBI report: State struggles with timely reporting for gun background check system
State agencies are struggling to meet Gov. Bill Lee’s new timeframe for reporting criminal activity to Tennessee's gun background check system due to limited resources, dated technology and the lack of a unified court system.
That was the finding in a new report from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released this week in response to an executive order issued by Lee aimed at strengthening the state’s system for gun background checks.
The order, issued in April in the wake of the Covenant School mass shooting, mandated a 72-hour timeframe for agencies reporting new criminal activity to the Tennessee Instant Check System. The order also asked TBI to issue a report within 60 days identifying any barriers to timely and accurate reporting.
The 72-hour limit was meant to expedite the criminal reporting process, but in reality, many agencies face hurdles in meeting that timeframe with challenges in logging arrest info, data entry errors and connecting some case dispositions to criminal backgrounds.
The TBI oversees the state’s gun background check system but it depends on local law enforcement and court clerks to submit timely criminal information, and not everyone uses the same technology.
While the majority submit information electronically, some agencies still send in records via fax or mail. Last year, 13% of agencies sent information manually, amounting to more than 100,000 case dispositions, the report found.
In another major challenge, the state is facing a backlog of tens of thousands of case dispositions not connected to criminal records due to reporting system errors.
If a court or clerk submits an incomplete disposition that is unable to be linked to a criminal record, the record system will place that disposition in an error file.
The TBI has contracted with a vendor to help clear the error file cases, but as of this year it still faces a backlog of roughly 761,000 cases not linked to criminal histories.
That means some prospective gun buyers could potentially have disqualifying charges, but those cases might not show up in the background check system.
“Though TBI is examining a variety of options to address the issue, without better and more thorough submissions, this problem is likely to continue,” the report said.
Other challenges include:
Fingerprint problems: TBI needs a fingerprint card to link an arrest and court disposition, but sometimes the fingerprint card is rejected because of problems with the information. It is then up to the local law enforcement agency to correct the problem and resubmit the information, which can take several weeks.
Juvenile records: Juveniles may only be fingerprinted in limited circumstances. If they are later tried as an adult they are not always re-fingerprinted after an indictment, meaning their arrest and disposition may not be linked to their criminal record.
Differences in formatting: Agencies submit hardcopy dispositions to the TBI in multiple forms, with the TBI documenting at least 14 different forms through mail, fax or email. The TBI also receives different forms for the Live Scan fingerprinting system since not all agencies have the newest version. This lack of uniformity causes reporting delays since a criminal history examiner must search the form and find the necessary info.
The TBI in its report said it looks forward to speaking with stakeholders about additional resources to help improve public safety.
“Without proper training, communication, personnel, technology, resources, and cooperation from local reporting entities across Tennessee, the TBI will continue to encounter challenges related to providing timely, accurate, and complete criminal history record information,” the agency said.
Reach Kelly Puente at kpuente@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: State faces challenges in timely reporting for gun background check system
