Experts: Minnesota's Criminal History System Falling Apart.

The collapse of the 35W bridge has made the old freeway bridge a symbol of impending doom.   This was done to describe the state of  Minnesota's criminal history system.

Minnesota's network of criminal history records is known as the Computerized Criminal History (CCH) system.  The network allows law enforcement, agencies, and citizens to get access to arrest and conviction records. It is the state's central repository for data on an individuals felony, gross misdemeanor, and other misdemeanor's.

The Criminal and Juvenile Justice Information Task Force recently talked and discussed  of what the priorities should be for the coming budget biennium. The CCH and the Criminal Justice Reporting System (CJRS) were listed as very important priorities.  Both systems were described by experts as being decades old and near collapse.  Hence, the 35W analogy was stated.

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension staff said that CCH and CJRS have been submitted through the budget process in past years, but has not made it through.

An outage of Minnesota's criminal history system would have dire, but harder to see consequences.

The background check on the caregiver for your parents could not be done, the cop who needs information before an arrest is made to see what the suspects past record may be would not be available, or the person who wants accurate, complete, correct information about themselves as they apply for government licenses and permits.