National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact of 1998

Overview
On October 9, 1998, President Clinton signed into law the National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact (Compact) Act of 1998, establishing an infrastructure by which states can exchange criminal records for noncriminal justice purposes according to the laws of the requesting state and provide reciprocity among the states to share records without charging each other for the information. The Compact became effective April 28, 1999. To date, 31 states have ratified the Compact.

The Act establishes a Council to promulgate rules and procedures for the effective use of the Interstate Identification Index System for noncriminal justice purposes.

The goal is to make available the most complete and up-to-date records possible for noncriminal justice purposes.