Manager of Communications & Intergovernmental Relations (860) 231-2442, ext. 332
New Probate Court database key in background checks for firearms eligibility
The Probate Courts expect to complete work this summer on a new database for use by state and federal authorities in checking the mental health backgrounds of citizens who seek to buy or own firearms.
The database, called the Mental Health Adjudication Repository (MHAR), will list the names of individuals who have had their firearms eligibility rights terminated due to a mental health adjudication in the Probate Courts or Superior Court within the last 14 years. The database will be made available to relevant state and federal agencies and automatically updated each day.
The courts have long maintained records of mental-health adjudications, but the information has not been compiled in a format that can be shared efficiently among the appropriate agencies, while also meeting confidentiality requirements. Data-sharing has been difficult because of incompatible computer systems or outdated modules, and the exchange of information through facsimile and other paper records can be slow, redundant and subject to human error.
“The goal of the project is to improve the completeness, automation and, very importantly, the transmission of mental health and court records used by federal and state law-enforcement authorities in conducting and reporting firearms eligibility determinations,” said Anne C. McKinney, a former probate judge who is overseeing the project for the Probate Courts. “The new electronic record system will provide more accurate and timely data to support enforcement efforts.”
The project began in 2011, when Connecticut received the first of two grants totaling about $4.9 million from the U.S. Department of Justice to build the MHAR database and undertake a host of other initiatives to improve court and law-enforcement record-keeping. The larger project is known as NARIP – the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) Act Record Improvement Program.
The Office of Policy and Management coordinates the NARIP grant, with participation from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) and the Judicial Branch, which includes the Probate Courts.
The Web-based, secure, electronic module being built by the Probate Courts captures mental health adjudications in civil and criminal proceedings. In the Probate Courts, the module captures dispositions for individuals who are committed to a facility for mental health treatment or for whom an involuntary conservator has been appointed. In Superior Court, dispositions are captured for individuals who are found to be incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity.
Most mental health adjudications occur in the Probate Courts. McKinney and seven full- and part-time researchers have been visiting the 54 courts, examining more than 60,000 records for their completeness and adding information as requested for the NICS records.
“Our job is to make sure the records are all up to date and accurate,” McKinney said. “We are charged with reviewing 14 years of records and are very near that mark. Our goal is to review 20 years if the funding is available.”
Once the database is operational, mental health adjudications will be transferred seamlessly from the courts to the MAHR and then to DESPP’s Special Licensing and Firearms Unit. From there, the records can be sent electronically to the FBI-maintained NICS. DMHAS also will have access to the searchable database.
Dr. Michael A. Norko, director of forensic services for DMHAS, said, “The development of the electronic MHAR and its automated inputs and outputs has been a major step forward in Connecticut’s response to the NICS reporting process. This project represents extraordinary, sustained inter-agency collaboration, and the office of the Probate Court Administrator is to be congratulated for its role in coordinating the IT initiative and the massive field work done to computerize archived records.”
Most firearms disqualifications under federal law stem from felony convictions and misdemeanor convictions related to domestic violence. Mental health adjudications account for a small fraction of the adjudications that lead to a disqualification, but they are the most problematic for NICS reporting. Records of many mental health adjudications are not available by means of the criminal history systems used by NICS, rendering them invisible to NICS unless special procedures are set up. In contrast, many felony convictions can be traced through the various criminal history systems that feed or support NICS, such as the Criminal Motor Vehicle System.
Probate Court Administrator Paul J. Knierim said the electronic interface, which is expected to be completed by August, reflects the state’s determination to eliminate reliance on a paper record. “Connecticut is way ahead of other states on this issue. We’ve put in place a database design that is as error-proof as it can possibly be and cost-efficient, saving taxpayers money,” he said.
Knierim praised the work of McKinney and her team, and also credited Vincent J. Russo, manager of communications and intergovernmental relations, and IT Systems Developer George Fernandes for embracing the project. “It’s a tribute to them and to the entire system that the Probate Courts took the lead,” he said.
The Probate Courts also are the forum for individuals with a mental health adjudication, including those whose cases were handled in Superior Court, to petition to have their eligibility to own or buy firearms reinstated. If the court reinstates firearms-eligibility rights, the individual’s name will be removed from the MHAR and NICS databases.
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