KBI: Database keeping track of criminal records outdated, could fail if not replaced
A statewide database designed to keep track of criminal records and keep Kansans safe could soon fail. That warning comes from the chief information officer with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
The KBI says its system primarily used for fingerprints is outdated. Replacing it will cost millions. The system has local impacts across the state.
At the Sedgwick County Jail in downtown Wichita, a machine connected to a statewide database operated by the KBI plays a pivotal role in the booking process. The statewide database lets officers know if a person has ever been arrested in the Kansas and what charges they faced.
Wichita Police Captain Jarod Scott says that information is important when deciding where to place the inmates at the jail.
Scott says they don't want to house people with a "fairly minute criminal history" with inmates arrested for violent felonies.
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System, known as AFIS, has been in place since 2007.
The KBI's chief information officer testified before a legislative committee this week, saying the system is outdated. He says, "if the system isn't replaced, there is a significant risk it will fail. Failure of the system would cripple criminal, justice, and public safety operations around the state."
"The risk to public safety is significant," he says.
Now, the KBI asks the state to make room in the budget for an $8 million upgrade before law-enforcement agencies across Kansas are left scrambling."
"I don't know entirely how, if it failed on their end, how that would work out. But off the top of my head, i'd be fairly worried," Scott says.
The crucial KBI system isn't just for law enforcement. Pretty much any background check requiring fingerprints in Kansas also relies on the system. This includes child welfare workers running criminal background checks on potential foster parents.
The KBI says the current system will be obsolete by 2025. Its goal is to submit a high-level plan to the state by next year. Replacement of the current system would take about two years.
