Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary

The Bureau of Justice Statistics awarded the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) a $2.4 million Cooperative Agreement under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP, CFDA 16.554) for the three-year period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029. In partnership with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), OCJS will execute a comprehensive criminal records modernization initiative consisting of three primary deliverables: reducing the backlog of sealing and expungement orders by 50 percent, digitizing 90,000 sealed paper records, and converting 200,000 fingerprint cards to digital format. These products directly support improved criminal history data quality and accessibility within Ohio's criminal justice system.

Additionally, BCI will expand disposition recovery efforts and enhance firearm eligibility determinations by creating data crosswalks between the Computerized Criminal History System and local court case management systems, and by collaborating with the Ohio Supreme Court and system vendors to implement relationship data fields in court systems. These technical improvements will reduce delays in firearm background check processing and ensure compliance with federal prohibitor standards. The award aligns with NCHIP's core mission of improving the quality and completeness of computerized criminal history record systems while supporting enhanced mental health and protection order data reporting for firearms eligibility determinations.