NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The public relies on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for criminal background checks. The purpose is to weed out those who shouldn't be working in schools or buying guns.

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The TBI is essentially the criminal information hub for the entire state, meaning it is the collection point for every arrest made in Tennessee.

A recent state audit of the TBI reveals the bureau still does not know the disposition of many arrests.

A disposition lists what charge a person was arrested on, the final charge and their sentence. It's important to have the most accurate disposition information so that background checks will also be accurate.

Every month, court clerks across the state are required to send the disposition information to the Administrative Office of the Courts, or AOC.

To slow the process, as of June, the majority of Tennessee's 91 counties were still mailing the information.

From the AOC, the dispositions are then passed on to the TBI.

The problem is that according to the audit, of the state's more than 2 million arrests between February 2001 and September of 2008, 41 percent lacked a disposition.

That's actually an improvement, at one point 77 percent of arrests lacked disposition information. Their goal though is 0 percent.

Without accurate and up-to-date criminal information, background checks for jobs in schools or gun purchases can be delayed or just plain wrong.

The TBI did not want to comment on this audit until its hearing next week with the comptroller's office.

That is standard policy for any state agency that is audited. They will discuss their plan to improve on the findings.

According to the audit, the TBI plans to automate this system by 2011. That still won't solve all the problems.

The state has to determine which agency will be responsible for submitting the information.