September 4, 2024
The Cities of Columbus and Dayton have settled a lawsuit with Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI).
This settlement addressed concerns about the state’s insufficient background check system. According to the lawsuit, the system lacked complete criminal information. As a result, the agency must make significant changes to increase the accuracy and reliability of the system’s information.
This lawsuit reached the Franklin County Common Pleas Court four years ago. The cities of Dayton and Columbus and a private organization presented the case against the state’s criminal background check system. According to the plaintiffs, many employers and others running background checks rely on this system for accurate information. The BCI maintains the system. According to state law, the system must collect information “from wherever procurable” to ensure complete criminal records.
However, the plaintiffs argued that the BCI failed to collect and report all information in the state and federal background check system databases. The lawsuit claimed, “Despite repeated promises to fix known deficiencies in the background check system, the OAG/BCI have persistently and systematically failed to fulfill their mandatory obligations. These deficiencies have been publicly reported time and again over the course of the past several years, but the system has not been fixed.”
The lawsuit also claimed that court clerks also played a role in these issues. Court clerks must provide the BCI with information on criminal records to enter into the system. However, the cities claimed that the BCI had previously rejected information on technical grounds. In cases where court clerks had not provided information, the BCI failed to take action to correct the issue.
Now, the plaintiffs and the BCI have reached a settlement agreement. According to the agreement, the agency will continue developing a self-service portal. Local agencies would use this portal to correct errors or add missing information in current records and share new information.
They also agreed to update the system and create a committee to determine which opportunities to focus on. This committee would be public-facing, lobbying for “the enforcement of mandatory reporting requirements by agencies,” and “the regular auditing of reporting agencies on their compliance with mandatory reporting requirements.”
The Attorney General’s office has agreed to create a training program for employees at reporting agencies. Training will occur at least quarterly, providing the plaintiffs with quarterly progress reports for the next three years. Should the BCI adhere to the agreement, utilizing Ohio’s background-checking system may significantly improve in the upcoming years.