Fingerprinting laws not always followed in Ohio

COLUMBUS (AP) -- The state says more must be done to prevent some criminal offenses from slipping through background checks because of a lack of fingerprints.
State consultants working for the attorney general's office have documented several cases in which offenses failed to show up in the state database that's used to process background checks, WBNS-TV in Columbus reported Tuesday.
The consultants, working out of the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, found problems with fingerprint gathering in Hardin, Hamilton and Miami counties. Similar problems were also found in Franklin County.
The problem generally involves offenders who were not arrested but told to report for a court hearing and then did not have their fingerprints taken, as required by law.
In some cases, judges said they weren't aware of the requirement that they order those offenders to be fingerprinted.
In Franklin County, judges are trying to develop a system that would issue alerts when offenders must be fingerprinted.
"We're trying to make sure we come up with a complete solution," said Judge Mark Froelich of Franklin County Common Pleas court.
The state says it has worked with local judges and court clerks for years to fix the problem.