The arkansas crime information center will use FY 2025 consolidated national criminal history improvement program funds towards a secure XML & biometric integration project that will modernize the…

The Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics awarded the Arkansas Crime Information Center a Cooperative Agreement totaling $768,582 on July 1, 2026, under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (CFDA 16.554).

The award funds a secure XML and biometric integration project to modernize Arkansas's criminal history repository. The project will upgrade the National Crime Information Center XML and Interstate Identification Index (III) XML interfaces, enhance automated arrest disposition linkage, and expand biometric capture capabilities. The work includes aligning repository message structures with current FBI Criminal Justice Information Services standards, implementing enhanced validation controls, and improving electronic data exchanges between courts and the state repository. The project will deploy two LiveScan tenprint and palmprint capture cabinets to improve biometric quality and accelerate electronic transmission of fingerprint and palm print data. These enhancements are designed to increase the percentage of arrests linked to final dispositions, reduce rejected III transactions, enhance synchronization with FBI systems, and decrease NICS delays attributable to incomplete or improperly linked records. The improvements will strengthen Arkansas's participation in the Interstate Identification Index, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and the FBI's Next Generation Identification system.

Performance occurs in Little Rock, Arkansas, with a period of performance from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029.

The arkansas crime information center will use FY 2025 consolidated national criminal history improvement program funds towards a secure XML & biometric integration project that will modernize the states criminal history repository by upgrading the national crime information center XML and the interstate identification index (III) XML interfaces, enhancing automated arrest disposition linkage, and expanding biometric capture capabilities to strengthen participation in III, the national instant criminal background check system (nics), and the fbis next generation identification (NGI/N3G) system. The project will align repository message structures with current FBI criminal justice information services (cjis) standards, implement enhanced validation controls, and improve electronic data exchanges between courts and the state repository. These improvements will increase the percentage of arrests linked to final dispositions, reduce rejected III transactions, enhance synchronization with FBI systems, and decrease nics delays attributable to incomplete or improperly linked records. The project will also deploy two livescan tenprint/palmprint capture cabinets to improve biometric quality and accelerate electronic transmission of fingerprint and palm print data. These enhancements will improve the completeness, accuracy, and availability of arkansas criminal history records at the state and national levels and strengthen the reliability of records used during interstate criminal history and firearm background checks.