Overview
In 1996, the Commonwealth began a metamorphosis in their approach to information and technology. The Empower Kentucky project was developed, which embraced all executive branch agencies, and was funded by one-time surplus state funds. Three major foundation initiatives are now in place that dramatically embody the message of change: (1) Kentucky has hired its first Chief Information Officer, a Cabinet level IT representative to sit with the other Cabinet heads in business discussions. (2) Enterprise-wide IT directions and a common architecture were developed and approved by the Executive Branch agencies. (3) An IT purchasing initiative (Strategic Alliance Services) was initiated with the goal of developing a true business partnership with vendors in the implementation of new systems, increasing the Commonwealth’s opportunities to save dollars and share risk, and significantly cutting the amount of time to procure services. These completed initiatives serve as a necessary infrastructure to Business Process Reengineering.
While the Commonwealth of Kentucky has a variety of information systems that meet many independent agency requirements, there is not an overall structure that allows for a uniform flow of information and data sharing among agencies at all levels.
Today’s Environment
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is well positioned regarding the implementation of a Unified Criminal Justice Information System. The Commonwealth enjoys advantages in several areas:
We have seen some benefits of these advantages, but the reality of today is that many of the current systems in use in the Commonwealth are based upon older technology, without consideration for workflow or technology assisted data entry. This is especially true when looking at systems, established for in-house purposes, across agency jurisdictions.
Today as an individual works his/her way through the Kentucky criminal justice system, data relating to that individual and their offense will be manually re-keyed into multiple stand-alone databases. Many hours are spent in duplicating data, but critical data relating to the individual may or may not be available to those who need it when they need it. Due to the redundancy of the data entry, many of the stand-alone systems detract and/or distract the ‘user’ from their real job (court clerks, law enforcement). Additionally, there is not an automated process to generate a complete profile on an individual.
Mission
In late 1998 stakeholders met in several sessions to identify a mission and a vision for a Unified Criminal Justice Information System (UCJIS). The mission statement this Commonwealth group came up with is:
The mission of the UCJIS is to provide for the collection and availability of accurate up-to-date information relating to individuals charged with or convicted of a criminal offense in a timely and easily accessible manner to the criminal justice community while maintaining appropriate security and privacy standards.
Several opportunities to leverage technology in a Unified Criminal Justice Information System include (in no specific order or priority) reducing or eliminating redundant data entry; automating citation information and jail bookings; capturing information at the point of transaction; documenting images (such as mug shots, scars/marks/tattoos, fingerprints); developing complete and summarized profiles of individual offenders (including aliases, SSN, friends/associates); and allowing common information to be shared rapidly and accurately. The use of automated scheduling resources will streamline Courtroom planning, and Dockets can be kept current.
Governance
Under the leadership of Governor Paul Patton, Kentucky has identified clear organizational ownership and authority to act in establishing the office of CIO. Through legislation (HB 455) all key stakeholders across the three branches of government and various geographic locations have a clear charter to work together to define a shared vision, prioritize issues, identify opportunities and approve expenditures. The Commonwealth CIO has been empowered by the legislature to oversee the development, implementation and support of an integrated criminal justice system.
Kentucky is well positioned to undertake this project and has the organizational structure and systematic support of key players to make significant strides within the state as well as serve as a national model.