DuPage committee adopts NIBIN intergovernmental agreement with Aurora after sheriff describes codifying a "handshake" arrangement

The DuPage County Judicial and Public Safety Committee on April 7 approved an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Aurora to formalize the county’s use of the Aurora Police Department’s National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).

The resolution (JPSR-13-26) was introduced by the chair and moved by member Heather, with member Yu seconding. Member Yu asked whether the arrangement is documented annually and noted the document did not include a time frame. Dan Bilodeau of the sheriff’s office responded that, historically, DuPage County relied on a "handshake agreement" with Aurora when county personnel needed access to the Aurora NIBIN system and that Aurora requested the county put that arrangement into a memorandum of understanding to formalize the process.

"So in historically, we just had, well, essentially, a handshake agreement with the city of Aurora for when we need to use this NIBIN system... Aurora just asked that we now put it in a memorandum of understanding," Bilodeau said.

After the brief discussion, the committee voted to approve the intergovernmental agreement. The transcript records the item as carried by voice vote; no roll-call tally is recorded.

Why it matters: NIBIN is a national system that links ballistic evidence to investigative leads by comparing imaging of cartridge cases across jurisdictions. Formalizing access through an intergovernmental agreement clarifies the terms under which DuPage County law-enforcement personnel can submit ballistic information to Aurora’s system and may streamline forensic cooperation in cross-jurisdictional investigations.

What’s next: The agreement will be filed in county records and implemented by the sheriff’s office. The committee did not set a public review or expiration date in the discussion; staff indicated the MOU codifies past practice at Aurora’s request.