2025 Winter Meeting Resources
SEARCH’s 2025 Winter Membership Group Meeting brought together over 130 attendees from 45 states, convening in person at the Columbia Marriott in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.
Held from January 28–30, the meeting featured a dynamic lineup of speakers from state and federal agencies, national organizations, and private industry. The event opened on January 28th with a welcoming address from South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, setting the stage for engaging presentations and insightful discussions.
As SEARCH’s governing body, the Membership Group meets twice per year to discuss, analyze, and strategize on critical policy, operational, and technical issues affecting the criminal justice system. These meetings encourage and promote collaboration among federal and state partners, industry experts, and SEARCH Members. They encourage discussions around ideas about new programs, services, and emerging trends, while also offering a platform to address state-level challenges and needs.
Key Sessions from the 2025 Winter Membership Group Meeting:
- Executive & Board Updates: Updates from the Executive Director and Board of Directors, including a recap of the September 2024 Board Retreat.
- Future of SEARCH: Discussion on SEARCH’s direction for 2025 and beyond, with an inward focus on the organization and improving member engagement.
- SEARCH Member Roundtable: Open forum for members to discuss key topics, share experiences, and report on programs.
- Bureau of Justice Statistics Briefing: Overview of strategic initiatives, funding outlook for NCHIP, and improvements to national crime data reporting.
- NCHIP & Disposition Improvement Project: Efforts to improve criminal history disposition reporting in states with low reporting rates.
- Criminal History Data Quality: Updates on data quality metrics and new templates for states to track and enhance data quality.
- Judicial Information Sharing: Collaboration with the National Center for State Courts to improve disposition reporting and data sharing.
- FBI CJIS Division Updates: FBI updates on budget, policy priorities, new disposition tracking systems, and the NGI Gateway for automated reporting.
- TSA Enrollment Services Update: Overview of TSA’s use of criminal history records in vetting programs.
- Digital Forensics Program Update: Insights into cybercrime training, digital forensics, and AI applications in law enforcement.
- Government Affairs Update: Review of federal legislative activities and their impact on state criminal justice operations.
- Louisiana Criminal Justice Project: Case study on governance structures and technical solutions to improve criminal justice data sharing.
SEARCH thanks our Sponsors of the 2025 Winter Membership Group Meeting
Photos from the 2025 Winter Meeting
The SEARCH Membership Group, the governing body of SEARCH, is comprised of one gubernatorial appointee from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories, as well as eight at-large appointees selected by SEARCH’s Chair. This national body of state-level professionals is widely representative of the various disciplines within the justice system, and many are responsible for operational decisions and policymaking concerning the management of criminal justice.
