Pinal County Justice Integrated Systems Implements Success

The Pinal County Justice Integrated Systems project is a win for criminal justice information sharing in Arizona. The successful project to exchange information between the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, Pinal County Attorney’s Office, and the Pinal courts has resulted in improved timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of criminal justice information among agencies in Pinal County and the central repository at DPS.

The architecture provides information transfer from the sheriff’s office to the county attorney’s office. A document management system allows documents to be scanned and the images transferred electronically among participating agencies. Agencies effectively built upon one application already in use by participating agencies, leveraging resources and providing broad-based benefits. Data exchange structures are Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM) compliant, and include features such as automatic email notification and failed transfer alerts. Project officials credit a combination of a strong Governance Structure and a detailed project plan as key to project success. National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) funding was used toward this project.

Feedback from agency participants:

• From Sheriff’s Office Records department: Previously, we were required to reorganize staff duties to allow for staff members to process, retrieve, and deliver packets twice daily, which amounted to as much as two or more hours each day. We no longer have the time management issue of finding coverage to meet critical deadlines.
• From County Attorney’s Office: In addition to the improvement in efficiencies, the systems are user friendly, processing time is significantly reduced, communication and cooperation have been greatly improved between the Sheriff’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office due to the benefits seen from project implementation.
• From Information Technology Department: Recently implemented data validation processes now reduce errors and alert users immediately. Law enforcement can now track case progress, which has not been a possibility in the past. Documents entered through the OnBase document management system are now shareable among all agencies.

ACJC Participates in FIDEX Working Group

Pat Nelson, ACJC's Criminal Justice Systems Improvement program manager, will present an overview of Arizona's criminal justice information sharing projects at the Forensic Information Data Exchange (FIDEX) Working Group meeting on May 16 at the National Forensic Science Technology Center in Largo, Florida. Other topics covered in the working group meeting will be Global Justice XML Data Model (GJXDM), criminal investigation, evidence analysis, crime laboratory operations, forensic evidence, and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS). The FIDEX Working Group will develop a Forensic Information Data Model (FIDM) by identifying the key types of forensic evidence and basic evidence data descriptions. The group will also identify resources and subgroups necessary to develop a FIDEX implementation plan.

Arizona Victim Assistance Academy

The Arizona Coalition for Victim Services received a federal grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice in 2002, to develop, implement, and evaluate an Arizona-specific victim assistance academy. The AVAA is modeled on the curriculum established by OVC for use in the National Victim Assistance Academy.

The Arizona Victim Assistance Academy (AVAA) offers a rare opportunity to live, work, study and interact with victim service providers from all areas of advocacy. While it is assumed that students have had previous training in their area of specialization, this course provides a fundamental overview of the entire field of advocacy including victimology, victim rights, and victim's assistance for residents in Arizona.

The 2007 AVAA will be held at the Radisson Woodlands in Flagstaff, Arizona June 24-29th. The registration cost is $500. Applications are due March 30, 2007. A limited number of need-based scholarships are available. For more information and/or to request an application please e-mail: acvsavaa@yahoo.com or visit the ACVS website: www.azcvs.net.

Download the registration form.

Victim Compensation and Victim Assistance Program Rule Changes

ACJC is required by statute to review program rules every five years to determine the need to make changes or revisions to Arizona Administrative Code. ACJC staff is currently going through this process for the Victim Compensation Program Rules and the Victim Assistance Program Rules. The first meeting was held on Oct. 11, 2006 in Flagstaff. There are two other meetings scheduled in Tucson on Nov. 9 and in Phoenix on Dec. 7. Details of both meetings are below. Members of the community interested in victim issues as they relate to the Victim Compensation Program and Victim Assistance Program are encouraged to attend. The Victim Program Rules hearings take place once every five years and this is an ideal opportunity to provide feedback on the rules and suggest changes to better serve crime victims.

Tucson, AZ
Thursday, November 9, 2006
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
At the Joel D. Valdez Main Library Lower Level I Meeting Room
101 N. Stone

Phoenix, AZ
Thursday, December 7, 2006
1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Arizona Criminal Justice Commission Suite 250
1110 W. Washington

Arizona's Records Quality Index: Measuring Records Improvement

July 21, 2006 - The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission Statistical Analysis Center (SAC) brought to completion its premier project introducing Arizona's Records Quality Index (RQI). Arizona's RQI was modeled after an index designed by the Structured Decisions Corporation (SDC) that evaluates criminal history records nationally and provides an individual state component for comparison. SAC devised Arizona RQI for use within Arizona at the county and agency levels, assessing record accuracy, timeliness and completion. Making benchmark use of the RQI model allows for standardized performance measures across jurisdictions, comparison to the national average, and the ability to gauge performance over time.

RQI's use of National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP) objectives as a guide for weighted outcome measures makes the tool's structure a logical model for measuring performance on a broader scale. As funding streams move toward demonstrating performance for continued support, this method provides an avenue for identifying process loopholes for directing resources and an opportunity for demonstrating success at multiple levels. This project lays the groundwork for moving ahead with definitive performance measures that can be utilized for improving records quality, identifying process successes, and providing valuable feedback at various system levels through repeated performance cycles.

Reports are available for Maricopa County.

House, Senate pass justice assistance spending bills

July 20, 2006 - The House and the Senate have each passed a Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) appropriations bill. The House has set a total appropriation for the Byrne/Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) program at $442 million; the Senate total is $555 million. The two bills will go to conference committee later this year where a final total will emerge, which will then be sent to the president for signature.

Other items of interest included in the appropriations bills (all amounts are in millions; FY07 amounts are proposed. The total will be final only after the two bills go through conference committee later this year):

Congress looks to restore Byrne/JAG funding for FFY07

In February 2006, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the administration's proposed budget for FFY 07. The news for the criminal justice community was dismal. Several Justice Department programs were targeted for elimination: the Byrne/Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) program; Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT); State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP); and the Juvenile Accountability Block Grant. Also, the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Training Program is eliminated from the OMB's Homeland Security budget. However, Congress is working to restore the budget for JAG. Both the House and the Senate have passed budget resolutions to fund JAG at $900 million. The process is far from over, and anything can happen. The full budget will be passed later this year as part of the Commerce-Judiciary-Science (CJS) appropriations bill. To ensure that Byrne/JAG funding is restored and that other programs of importance to the criminal justice community are funded, stakeholders must let their members of Congress know how important these programs are to their communities. Please take the time to send an e-mail or fax to Senators McCain and Kyl and to your respective member of the House of Representatives. Contact information for the Senate is available at www.senate.gov and for the House of Representatives at www.house.gov.

If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact Mary Marshall at ACJC, via mmarshall@azcjc.gov or call 602/364-1156.

Arizona Peace Officer's Memorial Golf Tournament

The Arizona Peace Officer's Memorial Board is hosting its 5th annual charity golf tournament on Saturday, April 29, 2006 at the Silverado Golf Club, Scottsdale, AZ. The money raised from this tournament will go directly to the Arizona Peace Officer's Memorial Fund to be used for the memorial services, held on the first Monday in May at the Arizona Peace Officers Memorial site in the Wesley Bolin Plaza, 1700 W. Washington, Phoenix. Additionally these funds are used to provide assistance for the families of Arizona peace officers killed in the line of duty as recommended by the board.

For a foursome golf tournament application, click here:

For sponsorship information,click here:

Zylon Vest Class Action Information

See documents

Byrne/JAG funding cut again in FFY06

The president signed the Commerce-Justice State/Science Appropriations bill in November, and the news is not good. The funding for the Byrne/Justice Assistance Grants (JAG) was once again significantly reduced. In FFY 06, the State of Arizona will face another devastating cut to JAG funding, a 40 percent reduction from FFY 05, receiving approximately $5.7 million (subject to the 60/40 split between state and local government, with ACJC administering approximately $3.6 million). The overall fiscal impact for the programs administered through the SAA (ACJC) is a two-year combined reduction of 67 percent from FFY 04 to FFY 06. Byrne/JAG funds the state's drug task forces and tandem prosecution projects according to the goals set out in the 2004-2007 Strategy for Arizona Drug, Gang and Violent Crime Control. For more information on the impact of these cuts, please see ACJC's JAG Impact Statement.

Arizona Concerns of Police Survivors 5K Run to Remember
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