The cycle that occurs after a suspected crime has taken place and been reported is referred to as the arrest, booking, and disposition cycle. Most people are aware of the arrests and booking portion of this cycle—an arrest may be made if there is probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. The suspect is taken to a law enforcement agency and booked. During the booking, name and personal information is recorded, a mug shot and fingerprints are taken and submitted to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and charges are entered on the individual. To complete this cycle and to provide actionable information to a variety of agencies, dispositions of cases and charges must be entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) in an accurate, timely, and complete manner.

The disposition of a case refers to the legal status of its resolution—whether it ended in acquittal, conviction, mental health adjudication, or other outcomes (see sidebar for a list of disposition categories). Without disposition information, an arrest record only shows that a person was at one time suspected of a crime; it does not show whether a court ultimately found the arrestee guilty.

Criminal cases generally take months to make their way through the criminal justice system. After a case or charges have been adjudicated, 28 CFR 20.37 states, “Dispositions should be submitted by criminal justice agencies within 120 days after the disposition has occurred.” Communication is critical among agencies to determine who will do the bookings and the dispositions. Generally, police departments, corrections departments, and (occasionally) criminal courts are responsible for bookings.

Courts are the most common choice for entering dispositions. However, circumstances may vary for each tribe and its tribal agencies, and a process should be developed that works best for your tribal agencies.

Information about dispositions is valuable to law enforcement and criminal justice agencies—for example, during case investigations and when recommending sentencing guidelines—as well as non–criminal justice agencies such as school, hospitals, and the human resources departments of businesses of all sizes. However, dispositions that are not entered into NCIC, or delayed dispositions, can create challenges for these types of agencies.

For example, employment decisions from Human Resources departments may be hindered because the existence of only an arrest or charges may not be sufficient to deny an applicant a position for which the disposition would render them ineligible. Having this information can also be critical for pre-employment criminal background checks for teachers, doctors, and day care providers as well as law enforcement officers. For tribal agencies that fingerprint under P.L. 101-630 (the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act), disposition information is a necessary part of these background checks.

Similarly, housing agencies may not be able to deny or approve occupancy to individuals who have arrest charges on their criminal history record information without disposition information.

On a third conviction of domestic violence, the conviction automatically becomes a felony. If one of the first two arrests is lacking a disposition, this third arrest and conviction may remain a misdemeanor. Also, a foster care licensor may be prohibited from placing children with foster parents without dispositions of certain charges being entered.

Finally, timeliness can be crucial for inquiries into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). This process determines whether a person can purchase or possess a firearm. If the qualifying prohibitor, such as a domestic violence conviction, is not submitted, an individual who would otherwise be denied may be able to proceed with purchasing and possessing a firearm.

The Tribal Access Program (TAP) provides special outreach and training to support participating tribes with timely entries of their arrest bookings and subsequent dispositions. The TAP assists through visits and online outreach with monitoring metrics are monitored and refining and improving training. Through this outreach, TAP tribes have been making steady and measurable progress. Since TAP’s implementation, the rate of booking submissions has increased from 42 percent of tribal bookings to 55 percent. If you have questions about how your tribe can begin submitting arrest bookings and disposition through TAP, please reach out to the TAP team at tribalaccess@usdoj.gov.

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