Justice Information Sharing Legislative Education Project

This program is funded under both the Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant Program (Byrne Competitive Program) and the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program. Authorized by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8), the Byrne Competitive Program helps local communities improve the capacity of state and local justice systems and provides for national support efforts including training and technical assistance programs strategically targeted to address local needs. The JAG Program (42 U.S.C. 3751(a)) is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to state and local jurisdictions, and JAG funds support all components of the criminal justice system. The JAG Program authorization also provides that 'the Attorney General may reserve not more than 5 percent, to be granted to 1 or more states or units of local government for 1 or more of the purposes specified in section 3751 of this title, pursuant to his determination that the same is necessary ' (1) to combat, address, or otherwise respond to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime, or in a type or types of crime.' (42 U.S.C. 3756).

The National Justice Information Sharing Initiative, administered by the Office of Justice Programs' (OJP) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), helps improve criminal justice systems and provides national programs and national efforts such as training and technical assistance to strategically address the needs of state and local justice systems and communities.

The National Conference of State Legislatures will provide education and outreach to state policy makers and legislators on challenges and opportunities related to justice information sharing. They will address challenges to creation and adoption of national JIS policy and related standards and practices. Topics will include but not be limited to implementation of: National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), Justice Reference Architecture (JRA), Fusion Center Guidelines and Baseline Capabilities, Global Federated Identity and Privilege Management (GFIPM), and Privacy and Civil Liberties Protections. The National Conference of State Legislatures will support activities that expand the dialogue between legislators and justice practitioners to improve coordination across governmental levels and branches, and serve as a liaison between state and federal partners.

CA/NCF