JIS Data Dissemination Committee

December 7, 2012

JISC DATA DISSEMINATION COMMITTEE
December 7, 2012
8:00 -9:00 a.m.
AOC Office, SeaTac, WA

MEETING MINUTES

Members Present	Guests Present
Judge Thomas J. Wynne, Chair	Dr. Zachary Hamilton, Washington
Mr. William Holmes (by telephone)	State University (by telephone)
Judge J. Robert Leach
Ms. Barbara Miner
Judge Steven Rosen
Members Absent
Judge Jeanette Dalton
Judge James R. Heller
AOC Staff Present
Lynne Alfasso, AOC Data Dissemination Administrator
Kevin Ammons, AOC PMO/QA Manager (Interim) and
IT Service Delivery Coordinator

Judge Wynne called the meeting to order and the following items of business were discussed:

1. Dr. Zachary Hamilton--Request for Data Access

   The Committee discussed the request submitted by Dr. Hamilton, Washington State University, for expanded access to the JIS data in the possession of the Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPP). The JIS Data Dissemination Policy, Section IV.C, requires that researchers submit a request to the data dissemination manager that describes the research project and if the request is approved that the researcher signs a contract agreeing to maintain the security and confidentiality of the data as required by the Data Dissemination Policy. Dr. Hamilton requested the use of the JIS conviction data which is transmitted quarterly to WSIPP for public policy research. Dr. Hamilton requested access to the data for criminal justice-related Washington State University research projects for a nine-year period; his request was not specific as to the nature of the projects.

   Dr. Hamilton was not present for the remainder of the meeting.

   A motion was made and seconded to deny Dr. Hamilton’s request. All members present voted in favor of the motion.

   The Committee denied Dr. Hamilton’s request because he is able to get access to the data he needs on a project-by-project basis from AOC and the Committee did not see any reason to make an exception to the Data Dissemination Policy. The Committee members noted that granting this request could set a precedent for other researchers.

    

2. Information Technology Governance (ITG) Request 152

   The Committee members discussed the estimate submitted by AOC/ISD to the Committee regarding the number of hours it would take for AOC/ISD to develop a proposed solution for this Request. ITG 152 is a request submitted by the Data Dissemination Committee for a modification to the Defendant Case History (DCH) display in JIS which would allow the court to print a copy of the DCH for the subject of the report or his/her designee which does not include sealed juvenile case information. In response to questions from AOC/ISD about implementation of this Request, Ms. Miner discussed the Request last week with Lynne Campeau, Issaquah Municipal Court Administrator, and Aimee Vance, Kirkland Municipal Court Administrator. Ms. Miner conveyed their suggestions to Kevin Ammons, the AOC Project Office Manager (Interim) who will work with the ISD business analysts to develop a proposed solution for this Request. Mr. Ammons reported that based on the information provided by Ms. Miner, it should take fewer hours for AOC/ISD to develop a proposed solution to implement this Request.

   It was moved and seconded that the Committee approve asking AOC/ISD to proceed with its work to develop a solution to implement this Request. All members present voted in favor of the motion.

   It was noted that the JIS Data Dissemination Policy may need to be amended to allow the dissemination of two versions of the DCH to the subject of the report: a version that includes the sealed juvenile case information and a version that does not include that information. This issue will be brought back to the Committee at a later date, after AOC/ISD has developed a proposed solution to this Request.

    

3. JIS-Link Fees

   The Committee members reviewed the memorandum prepared by staff on the statutory authority for imposing fees for JIS-Link customers and the historical practice of the Committee with regard to fee waivers. This memorandum was provided for informational purposes at the Committee members’ request.

    

4. Snohomish County District Court Request for JABS Access for County Researcher

   The committee reviewed the request of Judge Tam Bui, Snohomish County District Court, that a researcher hired by the County Department of Human Services be given JABS access to use when conducting an evaluation of the District Court’s Mental Health Court, and for the researcher to use as a member of the County’s Law and Justice Committee, which is looking at ways that county law and justice stakeholders can share and utilize data.

   It was moved and seconded that the Committee deny this request at this time. All members present voted in favor of the Motion.

   The Committee members were concerned that JABS access would not actually provide the information that the researcher needed. The Committee was also concerned that it was unclear what data the researcher was going to use for the Law and Justice Committee. It was suggested that a more limited research request be submitted for access to JIS criminal history data specifically for the mental health court evaluation.  Similar research is done in this manner in King County Superior Court and in Seattle Municipal Court.  

    

5. May 30, 2012 Meeting Minutes

   The meeting minutes were approved as drafted.

    

6. Next Meeting

   The next meeting of the Committee will be a teleconference on December 12, 2012, from 12-1 p.m.