SR-012709-1jc7®
~;,Yof City Council Report
Santa Monica -
City Council Meeting: January 27, 2009
Agenda Item`. I
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Marsha Jones Moutrie, City Attorney
Subject: Authorizing Prosecutors in the City Attorney's Office to Access Criminal
History
Recommended Action
It is recommended that the Santa Monica City Council enact a resolution .authorizing the
Criminal Division and Consumer Unit of the Santa Monica City Attorney's Office (CAO)
to access state and federal criminal history information as required by California Penal
Code section 11105 (b) (11).
..Executive Summary
The members of the City Attorney's Office who work on prosecutions need ready
access to state and federal criminal history information ih order to perform their work
efficiently and effectively. Adoption. of this resolution will fulfill the remaining legal
requirements for obtaining direct access.
Background
As mandated by the City Charter (Section 708 (g)), the CAO is charged with. the criminal
prosecution for violations of the City Charter, City ordinances and all misdemeanor
violations of State law. In order to serve that purpose more expeditiously, the CAO has
applied for and received access to the State of California Department of Justice (DOJ)
California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS). Because of the
sensitive nature of much of the data received via CLETS, DOJ maintains a very strict
set of regulations that must be fulfilled in order to qualify for and maintain access to
CLETS.
One of DOJ's basic requirements is a prohibition against the use of summary criminal
history information for purposes of employment, licensing., or certification. However,
DOJ also requires that all persons who have access to information generated via
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CLETS undergo a background and fingerprint check, which is considered by DOJ to be
for the purpose of employment and certification. Since access is defined as the ability
to hear or view any information provided through CLETS, all personnel in the Criminal
and Consumer Divisions, respectively, who are involved in the criminal prosecution of
violations of City and State statues will need to undergo a background check.
DOJ recognizes the.contradiction inherent in the prohibition of using CLETS information
for employment purposes and the requirement of doing background checks for
employees with access to CLETS information and has a procedure in place to address
this contradiction. This procedure entails the enactment of a resolution by the agency's
governing body which specifically authorizes the CAO to conduct background
investigations of its own personnel as necessary to satisfy DOJ regulations.
Discussion
The necessity for CLETS terminals in the CAO arises from two particular difficulties with
present procedures for obtaining criminal history information. First, to obtain a criminal
history from the Records Section of the Santa Monica Police Department, the office
must send a written request-for each criminal history. This procedure frequently results
in a two to three day delay. Second, requests from the office are frequently denied
altogether if the arresting .agency was not the Santa Monica Police Department (e.g.
California Highway Patrol, Santa Monica College Police Department).
The City Attorney's Office has already completed most of the lengthy DOJ application
process. It involved the purchase of additional hardware; significant assistance from
ISD and frequent interaction with State and County agency "gatekeepers" to .gain
access to the CLETS network. In order to ensure speedy access to this information,
which is vital to the prosecutorial function, staff requests that the City Council enact the
attached Resolution.
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Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The cost of implementing this resolution is the cost of processing the seventeen current
employees of the Criminal Division and Consumer Unit of the CAO through DOJ and
FBI background investigations. At $51.00 per person, the total cost is $867.00, which
will come out of the City Attorney's budget (Account Number 01231.55110).
The on-going cost of maintaining compliance with DOJ requirements of background
checks of employees with access to CLETS information is limited to an additional
$51.00 each time a new employee is brought into either the Criminal Division. or
Consumer Unit of the City Attorney's Office.
Prepared by: Terry L. White, Chief Deputy City Attorney, Criminal Division
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Approved: Forwarded to Council:
Reference Resolution No.
10376 (CCS).