New Yorkisstan ~Genesee County exits SAFE Act pilot program

Genesee County exits SAFE Act pilot program
Date:	Thu, 20 Mar 2014 07:02:31 -0400

Pilot Program for Pistol Permit Recertification

This is to update you on the status of the SAFE Act as it relates to the development of a database and procedures for the recertification of pistol permits. The Governor's Commission relating to the above had been meeting with conference calls bi-weekly last spring and summer. Last fall the meetings would occasionally be cancelled stating that they had nothing new to report. I believe the last connection we had prior to 2/12/2014 was in early December. In order to begin the recertification process, the State selected 7 pilot counties with different levels of established databases and size of county. Genesee County was selected as a county which chose to retain their own established database and connect with the State database through a yet-to-be-established interface. We provided them with a detailed, step-by-step outline of the permit process in Genesee County from start to finish. We were told that we would be contacted by the State IT Dept. to implement access from County to State and from State to County. That step was to take place in the early fall. To date the approval of our process, complete with a State generated flow cart, was the last we heard of the database development. Biweekly meetings of the Commission were scheduled for 2014. The pilot counties were to begin with 500 randomly selected permit holders contacted by letter on February 14^th.

After cancelling the January meetings of the Commission, on February 12th we held a conference call with the Governor's Commission on Implementation of the SAFE Act. We were informed on that date that the roll-out that was to begin 2 days later would be delayed. Initially they indicated that it might be June or July; however, by the end of our conference call they were stating that it would probably be the fourth quarter of this year. Earlier this week I received 23 emails from the Program Director of the Governor's Commission. Each one of the emails cancelled one of this year's meetings including the final meeting of the year on December 31st. As a result of the delays and the total uncertainty of the plans for implementation, attached you will find a letter that I have transmitted to the Governor's Commission withdrawing Genesee County's participation in the Pilot Program. I feel that the inability to establish a timetable and definite steps for the program will make it impossible to plan our office staffing patterns and other internal programs that we wish to accomplish this year. I also feel that it is unfair to the residents of our county to be kept in the dark on exactly when and what will take place in the alleged SAFE Act. If you have any questions on the status of the various components of the SAFE Act, feel free to contact me. I will do my best to keep you aware of developments and any projected implementation dates as they occur.

~ Don

Don M. Read, Genesee County Clerk

Best regards,