BOISE - If you have concerns about someone's criminal past, there's a free online resource in Idaho to help you get answers.
The Idaho Repository was established in 2002, and contains every court record statewide.
Every day, thousands of people check the Idaho Repository - from lawyers, to law enforcement, to the public - looking up court records and criminal histories.
In fact, the Idaho Supreme Court says the site gets about 200,000 hits each day.
Jean Lockhart with the Boise Rescue Mission uses it often.
"For the general public it's really great that you can get a sense of who you're dealing with the situation," said Lockhart. "You can really quickly get a feel for what problems people have had in the past and I think it's a great resource. We use it and we love it."
Lockhart says while they don't look up those staying at the shelter, they do research those they've had connections with. She says it's an easy way to get the facts about situations like domestic cases or custody battles that are usually emotional, and sometimes dangerous.
"We've had people who wanted to visit here, and they had domestic battery and violent charges and we just can't have those people come visit our women and children here," said Lockhart. "It does give us more information with what we're dealing with so that we can protect the people who come to us."
But, she admits sometimes it's a frustrating system, with duplicate names, making it hard to find exactly who you're looking for.
"The Repository is made by humans, used by humans, and anytime there is a human error you're not going to get exactly what you want but that's the truth of any database," said Lockhart.
The administrative offices of the Idaho Supreme Court have operated the database for more than a decade, and the records date back to 1995.
It's funded by civil and criminal fees and is updated hourly.
Janica Bisharat says they are well aware of problems with the Repository.
"Depending on how that name was entered in each of those jurisdictions, there could be some inconsistency within the system," said Bisharat.
Bisharat says that's because the Repository shows copies of what was entered by law enforcement or court clerks at a local level, and counties have their own systems.
"With there being 44 instances, we are not able to party match information across those systems," said Bisharat.
But, that's about to change.
In 2014, the Idaho Legislature approved the funding for an entirely new system at a cost of more than $7 million.
The new Repository will look much different and will also be available on mobile devices.
Bisharat says the party matching tool statewide should clear up any inconsistencies when searching cases.
She says the new system goes well beyond the Repository, making Idaho's court records electronic.
"The system we have purchased has electronic tools for judges to manage cases electronically from the bench," said Bisharat.
It's not just judges, but attorneys and eventually law enforcement will all be required to enter case information online, cutting down the workload on clerks.
Bisharat says jobs will not be cut, but the new platform will improve the public's access to information.
For the past year and half, they've been getting ready for the switch, and next month will be the first test, when all Twin Falls County records will move to the new site.
"A lot of work, we believe it will help the courts run much more efficiently, and the services made available to the public will really increase the public's access to the courts," said Bisharat.
Ada County is scheduled to be switched over next February, with all counties on the new site within the next few years.
During the switch, both the current Repository site and the new one will be available online.
Bisharat says no decision has been made yet on whether there will be a fee attached to accessing information on the new system.
