State Crime Information Director Maury Mitchell presents information to members of the Alabama Justice Information Commission at a meeting on Oct. 31, 2024 meeting. The group, comprised of law enforcement and other criminal justice agencies, opted not to allow the Alabama State Board of Education access to its LETS system. (Ralph Chapoco/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama Justice Information Commission Thursday voted to allow two agencies to have access to portions of its database of criminal reports but did not act on a similar request from the Alabama State Board of Education (ALSBOE).
The commission, composed of judges, law enforcement agencies and other people involved in the criminal legal system, voted to allow the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission access to the incident reports contained within its database.
It also voted, 6-4 with two abstentions, to give some coroners permission to retrieve data from the Law Enforcement Tactical System (LETS), a criminal information database available to agencies such as sheriffs, police departments and district attorneys. The coroners can only access the data if they have approval and complete a training program.
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But members of the commission said they were uncomfortable allowing the ALSBOE to have access to LETS for what representatives of the board said was investigating potential wrongdoing by instructors or other personnel who interact with students.
“You have to be very careful about the information you are allowing people to have access to,” Derrick Cunningham, Montgomery County Sheriff and chair of the commission, said in an interview after the meeting. “Just like with law enforcement, I can’t run a car tag and give you that information — it is against the law for me to do that. When you give everyone access or permission to be able to look at certain things, without any controls, then you have problems.”
The commission maintains a variety of databases, but the membership was most protective of LETS.
The state keeps exact information in LETS confidential. According to the University of Alabama, the system contains information related to vehicles, drivers and “violation data” while also producing photos for law enforcement to obtain positive identification.
State Crime Information Director Maury Mitchell said that the database can list gang affiliation and whether a person is linked to sexual offenses.
“It allows law enforcement to know who the people who are in front of them when they stop a vehicle,” he said.
A coroner testified Thursday that the platform can also retrieve Social Security numbers as well as emergency contact information of specific individuals.
Several coroners wanted access to LETS to allow them to identify someone who has passed away without assistance from law enforcement.
The commission split on giving coroners access, with judges on the commission supporting it and members of law enforcement and the district attorneys on the commission voting against them.
Representatives from the ALSBOE faced intense questioning at the privacy and security subcommittee meeting prior to the full commission’s meeting.
“I don’t really understand what specifically you are looking for in LETS and how it would apply in determining an employment question regarding a teacher,” said Glenn Thompson, a retired circuit court judge from Morgan County and chair of the subcommittee. “I can’t fit that into an official law enforcement, criminal justice purpose.”
The representatives from the ALSBOE said personnel can be entangled in criminal legal situations where there is no record available through court databases, or that may have occurred in a venue that does not retain records, such as municipal court.
The law allows the ALSBOE to solicit the help of law enforcement to search through the database, but that can be cumbersome.
“Our process requires us, right now, to reach out to each individual agency, sometimes we get quick responses, sometimes not so quick responses,” said James Ward, associate general counsel for the State Board of Education. “Our hope is that having greater access would help us get the information we need and reduce the burden on local agencies who oftentimes have to go back and forth with our team or other folks about just the mechanics of getting information to us.”
But Thompson expressed concern that the board would use LETS data to terminate personnel, such as teachers, The administrative action could take place without obtaining complete information available through the court system, which could include exculpatory information.
“Are you going to take action before he is adjudicated guilty?” Thompson said. “What if he is adjudicated not guilty?”
Some on the subcommittee questioned whether the ALSBOE meets the definition of law enforcement, to whom access to LETS is reserved.
The privacy subcommittee did not vote on the State Board of Education’s request, allowing representatives to more fully explore the information that staff would need from the database.
“Right now, I see way too many opportunities for abuse of it, in taking what’s in LETS and using it, and then later finding out it wasn’t actually the whole truth,” Thompson said.
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