NASACT Webinar November 6, 2013 Excellence in Accountability Award DEPT. OF STATE POLICES ADMINISTRATION OF THE FIREARM OWNERS IDENTIFICATION CARD ACT.

NASACT WebinarNovember 6, 2013

Excellence in Accountability Award

DEPT. OF STATE POLICE’S ADMINISTRATION OF THE

FIREARM OWNERS IDENTIFICATION CARD ACT

Background

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To “promote and protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public”, Illinois residents are required by the Firearm Owners Identification Card Act to have a valid FOID card in order to possess or purchase firearms or ammunition.

The law originally became effective in 1968; unique to Illinois.

The FOID Card Program is administered by Illinois State Police.

ISP runs checks against various databases to identify conditions that may disqualify an individual from possessing a firearm.

Background

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Although an individual has a valid FOID card, an additional background check is conducted by ISP on the individual at the time a firearm is purchased from a gun vendor.

Approximately 300,000 FOID applications are received annually.

Background

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Potential impact of audit appeared to be limited. Long-standing program – 1968. Problems with processing card timeliness had

been well documented. Federal background check database – FBI’s

National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

Background

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HOWEVER, Auditors found fundamental flaws in the State’s

reporting of individuals with disqualifying mental health conditions. Not only undermined the effectiveness of

Illinois FOID system, Significantly impaired the effectiveness of the

federal background check database. AUDIT CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of the

Illinois FOID card program is limited in promoting and protecting the safety of the public.

Mental Health Reporting

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Reporting deficiencies of individuals with potentially disqualifying mental health conditions to the Illinois State Police.

COURTS: The FOID Act requires that when an individual

is adjudicated as a “mental defective” by a court, the court “shall direct the circuit court clerk to immediately notify the Department of State Police. . . .”

Mental Health Reporting: CY 2010

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1 The 5,154 involuntary admissions reported by ISP to the FBI in 2010 included involuntary admissions reported to DHS by State operated mental health facilities dating back to June 2008.2 None of the circuit court clerk orders received during 2010 were reported to NICS by ISP until 2011.

Mental Health Reporting

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Furthermore, the information submitted by the three circuit court clerks to ISP was missing critical information needed for the FOID card eligibility determination process. Fifty-six of the 121 (46%) orders were missing

date of birth, gender, or race. We found that 27 of the 121 (22%) orders from

the circuit court clerks were not reported to the FBI’s NICS database.

Mental Health Reporting

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DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES

Mental Health Reporting: CY 2010

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1 The 5,154 involuntary admissions reported by ISP to the FBI in 2010 included involuntary admissions reported to DHS by State operated mental health facilities dating back to June 2008.2 None of the circuit court clerk orders received during 2010 were reported to NICS by ISP until 2011.

Mental Health Reporting

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Example: An individual is involuntarily admitted to a

nursing home/private hospital in a county where circuit clerk did not report to ISP.

Since facilities did not distinguish between voluntary and involuntary admissions and the clerk did not report, ISP did not report the individual in the FBI’s NICS database.

Individual is released and travels or relocates to Wisconsin and tries to purchase firearm.

Wisconsin runs a NICS check, which identifies no prohibitors, and gun can be purchased.

Mental Health Reporting

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Hospitals and nursing homes did not report mental health admissions to DHS within seven days from admission as required.

In 2010, only 13 of 105 private hospitals and nursing homes reported admissions to DHS within an average of 7 days.

Mental Health Reporting

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The report also showed that deficiencies in mental health reporting were not limited only to Illinois.

FBI data provided to auditors showed that many other states have reported relatively few mental health records to the FBI’s database.

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MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS SUBMITTED TO FBI’s NICS

State Thru Aug. 2011 State Thru Aug. 2011California 276,313 Alabama 243

Texas 166,026 Utah 106New York 159,411 Maryland 56

Virginia 158,224 Maine 35Michigan 98,467 Vermont 25

Washington 78,368 New Jersey 16Florida 40,775 South Carolina 15

Missouri 30,963 Kentucky 8Colorado 27,002 Wyoming 4

Ohio 26,490 Montana 3North Carolina 20,775 Mississippi 2

Connecticut 10,891 Nebraska 2Arizona 7,942 New Hampshire 2Illinois 6,732 Oklahoma 2

New Mexico 5,759 South Dakota 2Wisconsin 5,220 Hawaii 1

West Virginia 5,194 Louisiana 1Georgia 5,102 Massachusetts 1Indiana 3,080 North Dakota 1Kansas 3,363 Oregon 1

Minnesota 3,388 Pennsylvania 1Tennessee 2,408 Alaska 0

Arkansas 1,804 Delaware 0Iowa 1,660 Idaho 0

Nevada 455 Rhode Island 0

Operational Issues at ISP

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We conducted reviews of the FOID eligibility process and identified significant management control issues with ISP’s administration of the program that impact program effectiveness.

Lack of Policies, Procedures, and Training

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State Police did not have up-to-date policies, procedures, or administrative rules, and did not provide formal training to staff on the process for determining FOID card eligibility.

Undeliverable, Returned FOID Cards

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We found that over 6,200 FOID cards had been returned to ISP as undeliverable by the post office and were stored in filing cabinets.

Unanswered Calls

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ISP did not have enough Customer Service Representatives to handle the volume of calls that are received related to the FOID card program – 80 percent of phone calls went unanswered.

Timeliness of FOID Card Applications Approved

Revoked FOID Cards

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ISP officials estimated that only 30 percent of revoked FOID cards are returned to ISP.

Audit Impact – Why?

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Deficiencies in mental health reporting not widely known.

ISP and DHS agreed with the report’s 12 recommendations.

Shootings at Sandy Hook and Colorado. Both the NRA and gun control groups supported

the audit’s findings. Legislators working under a court-ordered

deadline to pass concealed carry legislation.

Audit Impact

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ISP and DHS immediately began to make changes, including: Revised reporting system so hospitals and

nursing homes can now differentiate between voluntary and involuntary admissions.

DHS reported 18,424 involuntary admissions to State facilities for inclusion in federal database.

More interaction with the Courts.

Audit Impact

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Legislation passed 2 months after report release. Adding more explicit requirements for circuit

courts to report individuals with disqualifying mental health conditions to ISP.

Requiring courts and local law enforcement to collect and return revoked FOID cards.

Audit report discussed during several legislative hearings on concealed carry.

Chief Justice memo to courts. Extensive media coverage.

NASACT WebinarNovember 6, 2013

Excellence in Accountability Award

DEPT. OF STATE POLICE’S ADMINISTRATION OF THE

FIREARM OWNERS IDENTIFICATION CARD ACT