§ 12-12-1503 - Definitions. - Arkansas Statutes

12-12-1503. Definitions.

As used in this subchapter:

(1) "Administration of criminal justice" means performing functions of investigation, apprehension, detention, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision, or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders, including criminal identification activities and the collection, maintenance, and dissemination of criminal justice information;

(2) (A) "Arrest records" or "arrest information" means felony arrest information in which conviction or disposition information has not been entered into the central repository.

(B) "Arrest records" or "arrest information" does not include:

(i) Misdemeanor arrest information;

(ii) Felony arrest information that has a disposition of acquittal, dismissal, or nolle prosequi entered into the central repository; or

(iii) Felony arrest information if more than three (3) years have elapsed from the date of the felony arrest;

(3) "Bureau" means the Identification Bureau of the Department of Arkansas State Police, which may maintain fingerprint card files and other identification information on individuals;

(4) "Central repository" means the Arkansas Crime Information Center, which collects, maintains, and disseminates criminal history information;

(5) (A) "Conviction information" means criminal history information disclosing that a person has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to or was found guilty of a criminal offense in a court of law, together with sentencing information.

(B) "Conviction information" does not include a sealed or expunged record;

(6) (A) "Criminal history information" means a record compiled by the central repository or the bureau on an individual consisting of names, identification data, notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, informations, or other formal criminal charges obtained from criminal justice agencies, including any dispositions of the charges, as well as notations on correctional supervision and release.

(B) "Criminal history information" does not include the following:

(i) Fingerprint records on individuals not involved in the criminal justice system, juvenile records, or driver history records;

(ii) Original records of entry maintained by criminal justice agencies, court indices, records of public judicial proceedings, court decisions, opinions, and information disclosed during public judicial proceedings; and

(iii) Records when the release is made by the specific court, law enforcement agency, or prosecutor that created the records.

(C) Subdivision (5) of this section does not prohibit the release of information by the specific agency that created the record;

(7) "Criminal justice agency" means a government agency or any subunit thereof that is authorized by law to perform the administration of criminal justice and that allocates more than one-half (1/2) of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice;

(8) (A) "Disposition" means information describing the outcome of any criminal charges, including notations that law enforcement officials have elected not to refer the matter to a prosecutor, that a prosecutor has elected not to begin criminal proceedings, or that proceedings have been indefinitely postponed.

(B) "Disposition" includes acquittals, dismissals, probations, charges pending due to mental disease or defect, guilty pleas, nolle prosequi, nolo contendere pleas, findings of guilt, youthful offender determinations, first offender programs, pardons, commuted sentences, mistrials in which the defendant is discharged, executive clemencies, paroles, releases from correctional supervision, deaths, or a finding that the person must register as a sex offender;

(9) (A) "Dissemination" means disclosing criminal history information or disclosing the absence of criminal history information to any requestor that has applied and been approved by the Department of Arkansas State Police to receive the criminal history information.

(B) "Dissemination" does not mean:

(i) The furnishing of information by a department to personnel of a participating agency when criminal justice agencies jointly participate in the maintenance of a single recordkeeping system as an alternative to maintaining separate records; and

(ii) The furnishing of information by any criminal justice agency to another for the purpose of the administration of criminal justice;

(10) (A) "Employer" means a person or an entity that employs the services of another person or for whom an employee works and receives payment of wages or salary.

(B) "Employer" includes a person acting on an employer's behalf;

(11) "Pending information" means felony criminal history information in some stage of active prosecution or processing;

(12) "Requestor" means the employer, professional licensing board, institution of higher education, Arkansas Public Defender Commission, or any entity mandated by Arkansas law to perform criminal background checks through the department or any person who has obtained the written authorization of the subject of the record that has submitted an inquiry into an individual's criminal history information under this subchapter; and

(13) "Seal" or "expunge" means that the record or records in question shall be sealed, sequestered, and treated as confidential as provided by law, including pardons issued by the Governor.