The cities of Dayton and Columbus and Everytown For Gun Safety this week settled a four-year legal battle with the state of Ohio over its criminal background check system. The program is a well-known safeguard that ensures people with serious criminal records cannot purchase firearms, but it is also used to prevent them from being hired in positions of trust such as teachers or police officers.
But this database is only as useful as its data.
In court, the cities argued that Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation failed in its obligation to collect information and maintain the database. State law requires the BCI to collect information for the system “from anywhere” and designates the agency as the clearinghouse for Ohio’s criminal records.
The cities’ original complaint allows for court reporters to play a role, too. After all, who knows better when a case has been decided? But the cities’ lawyers argued, “Many (reporters) complain that BCI rejects this information for technical reasons; and the reporters who simply do not report or do not report in a timely manner do so with apparent impunity from BCI.”
As part of a settlement agreement approved in court this week, the parties agreed to a series of steps designed to improve the background check system and make it easier for authorities to upload information.
“We all have a responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure that individuals who are prohibited from purchasing weapons cannot walk out of a gun store with a firearm,” said Eric Tirschwell, executive director of Everytown, in a press release announcing the agreement.
“This settlement should serve as a model for other states to take the critical steps necessary to ensure that all criminal convictions and other prohibitions can be viewed when someone attempts to purchase a gun,” he said.
But lawyers for the cities warned that the success of the agreed changes depends in part on the cooperation of state lawmakers. And Dayton Law Director Barbara Doseck added that despite Ohio’s home rule provisions, local governments remain unable to enact their own firearms restrictions.
“This agreement is a positive step in the right direction,” she stressed. “However, without action from the General Assembly, Ohio cities cannot pass laws restricting access to guns or the gun violence associated with them. Without cooperation, Dayton will have to continue as we have since the Oregon District shooting, with no real opportunity to make effective change in our own community.”
The settlement agreement
Under the terms of the agreement, state officials will continue to work on a self-service portal that local agencies can use to submit new information to BCI and correct errors or omissions in existing records.
Parties on both sides of the case agreed that an electronic reporting system would be best, but that bringing agencies’ information systems up to par would require funding. To that end, they agreed to apply for grants to cover the cost of upgrading the technology and to set up a grant advisory committee to figure out what options they should pursue.
In the interest of transparency, they plan to create a publicly accessible dashboard once the reporting system is fully up and running so the public can see what an agency’s compliance rate is. They also agree to lobby state legislators for legislation that would hold agencies accountable for mandatory reporting requirements and regular audits.
The Attorney General’s Office agreed to implement a training program for reporting agencies at least quarterly and to provide quarterly progress reports to plaintiffs over the next three years.
Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein praised the agreement as a “sensible gun safety measure.”
“For the first time ever, Ohio has a real plan to modernize our criminal background check system so it works for those who use it every day – to keep deadly weapons away from violent individuals and to ensure employers have access to the information they need when hiring,” he said. “This agreement is a historic victory for Ohioans and for public safety.”
“I urge lawmakers to build on this progress,” Klein added, “and give reporting agencies the tools they need to close the gaps in our system and better protect public safety.”
Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.
Get the morning’s headlines straight to your inbox
