The Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC) appointed Washington County Commissioner Karla Bigham, District 4, as the metro area representative to the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Information and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Advisory Group May 10.
Authorized in Minnesota Statute 299C.65, it serves as the state advisory group on criminal justice information policy and funding issues. The advisory group makes recommendations to the governor, the Supreme Court, and the legislature on issues such as data practices, individual privacy rights, data on race and ethnicity, information-sharing at the different levels of the criminal justice system, identification standards, and the impact of proposed legislation on the criminal justice system related to information systems.
In 2023, legislation was passed expanding the scope of the advisory group to include reviewing and advising the Superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) on audits, accreditation reports, emerging technologies in the law enforcement and forensic science fields, and other programmatic and operational initiatives of the BCA.
Per statute, AMC appoints two members to the group: one who works or resides in greater Minnesota and one who works or resides in the seven-county metro area. At least one of these members must be an elected official. AMC’s greater Minnesota representative is Carlton County Commissioner Marv Bodie. Washington County Commissioner Bigham will serve as metro area representative.
The Advisory Group meets quarterly, and the BCA coordinates the advisory group meetings and provides administrative support. The next meeting is May 21 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the BCA. The group will be discussing topics such as violent crime (hearing from The Violence Project and the Violent Crime subcommittee) and forensic genealogy, as well as getting an overview of the Department of Corrections’ data systems and gaps in information sharing.
For more information about the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Information and Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Advisory Group visit the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s website at dps.mn.gov/divisions/bca.