National News
Attorney General's fix to background-check system to cost millions
March 24, 2016 posted by Steve Brownstein
Replacing the aged criminal background-check system operated by the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine will be a pricey proposition.
Five bids submitted to replace the hardware and software of the system at the Bureau of Criminal Investigation range from $5.97 million to $17.72 million.
WBNS-TV (Channel 10) and The Dispatch reported last year that the system erroneously informed some employers that criminals had clean records, while other convictions did not flow into the system for months. In emails, the system was described by DeWine employees as "cobbled together" and "running on borrowed time."
Another problem surfaced last summer when hundreds of teachers, foster parents and others escaped detection of their criminal charges when the system did not trigger automated arrest alerts to employers and officials.
DeWine pledged to replace the troubled system and hired a consultant for $474,224 to help plan a replacement. Bids were opened last month, but not released until recently.
Here are the bid amounts, listing one-time costs and quoted annual maintenance and support fees. Some amounts include options that may not be ordered:
3MCogent, Pasadena, Calif.: $17.72 million; $2.44 million.
gcom, Albany, N.Y.: $14.35 million; $2.63 million.
NEC, Rancho Cordova, Calif.: $10.8 million; $1.18 million.
Safran, Arlington, Va.: $10.12 million; $1.59 million.
Thinkstream Acquistions, Baton Rouge, La.: $5.97 million; $734,200.
3MCogent serves as the current contractor and has been fined by DeWine's office for failing to properly operate and improve the background-check system.
DeWine's office is working with legislators to seek money in the upcoming state capital budget to purchase the new system, which uses fingerprint-identification software to match up arrests and convictions. The new system may not be online for 18 to 36 months.
Bids are being evaluated and then vendors will be asked to submit their best and final offer, said DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney. A bidder will be selected in late spring or early summer and then negotiations will begin on the final upfront and annual costs, he said.
BCI runs more than 1.3 million background checks a year for public and private employers and provides the criminal-history information used by police officers statewide, as well as the FBI.
