45-27-3 - Definitions.
§ 45-27-3. Definitions.
For the purposes of this chapter, the following words shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section unless the context requires otherwise:
(a) "Criminal justice agencies" means public agencies at all levels of government which perform as their principal function activities relating to the apprehension, prosecution, adjudication or rehabilitation of criminal offenders.
(b) "Offense" means an act which is a felony or a misdemeanor.
(c) "Justice information system" means those agencies, procedures, mechanisms, media and forms, as well as the information itself, which are or become involved in the origination, transmittal, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information related to reported offenses and offenders, and the subsequent actions related to such events or persons.
(d) "Criminal justice information" means the following classes of information:
(i) "Secret data" which includes information dealing with those elements of the operation and programming of the Mississippi Justice Information Center computer system and the communications network and satellite computer systems handling criminal justice information which prevents unlawful intrusion into the system.
(ii) "Criminal history record information," which means information collected by criminal justice agencies on individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, affidavits, information or other formal charges and any disposition arising therefrom, sentencing, correctional supervision and release. The term does not include identification information such as fingerprint records or images to the extent that such information does not indicate involvement of the individual in the criminal justice system.
(iii) "Sensitive data," which contains statistical information in the form of reports, lists and documentation which may identify a group characteristic, such as "white" males or "stolen" guns.
(iv) "Restricted data," which contains information relating to data-gathering techniques, distribution methods, manuals and forms.
(v) "Law enforcement agency" or "originating agency" or "agency" which includes a governmental unit or agency composed of one or more persons employed full time or part time by the state as a political subdivision thereof for the following purposes: (A) the administration of criminal justice, which includes the prevention and detection of crime; the apprehension, pretrial release, post-trial release, prosecution, adjudication, correctional supervision or rehabilitation of accused persons or criminal offenders; or the collection, storage and dissemination of criminal history record information; or (B) the enforcement of state laws or local ordinances, which includes making arrests for crimes while acting within the scope of their authority. The agency must perform one or more of the above-described criminal justice duties and allocate a substantial part of its annual budget to the administration of criminal justice.
(e) "Center" means the Mississippi Justice Information Center or the Mississippi Criminal Information Center.
(f) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
(g) "Conviction information" means criminal history record information disclosing that a person was found guilty of, or has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to, a criminal offense in a court of law, together with any sentencing information. This includes a conviction in a federal or military tribunal, including a court martial conducted by the Armed Forces of the United States, or a conviction for an offense committed on an Indian Reservation or other federal property, or any court of a state of the United States.
(h) "Nonconviction information" means arrest without disposition information if an interval of one (1) year has elapsed from the date of arrest and no active prosecution for the charge is pending, as well as, all acquittals and all dismissals.
Sources: Laws, 1980, ch. 555, § 2; reenacted, 1983, ch. 381, § 2; Laws, 2001, ch. 500, § 14, eff from and after July 1, 2001.