Drafter
Clerk 12/02/2024
Title
AN ORDINANCE providing for the submission to the qualified electors of King County at a special election to be held in King County on April 22, 2025, of a proposition to reauthorize an expired regular property tax levy in excess of the levy limitation contained in chapter 84.55 RCW, for a consecutive seven year period beginning in 2026 at the rate of not more than $0.0275 per one thousand dollars of assessed valuation, with the 2026 levy amount being the base for computing maximum allowable levy amounts under chapter 84.55 RCW for years two through seven (2027-2032), for the purpose funding the continued operation of the regional automated fingerprint identification system, also known as AFIS, which maintains expanded crime scene and arrest identification technology and services for all local criminal justice agencies in King County.
body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. To expand and enhance upon the limited identification services provided by individual city and county law enforcement agencies or at the state level, in 1986 the voters of King County approved funding for the purchase of a shared regional automated fingerprint identification system ("AFIS") computer, which matches unknown fingerprints to known fingerprints. King County's AFIS database holds over two million fingerprint records, over one million palmprint records, and approximately sixty-three thousand crime scene prints from unsolved cases. The King County AFIS is a regional system with program services available to every city and unincorporated area in King County.
2. The AFIS computer is used for two primary purposes:
a. To quickly identify arrested individuals, and prevent the wrongful release of those who use false names to evade arrest warrants or hide criminal records; and
b. To search fingerprints and palmprints collected from crime scenes to identify unknown suspects and aid in convictions.
3. The county first purchased the shared AFIS computer after the...
Click here for full text