THIS COMPENDIUM IS GENERALLY LIMITED TO STATE LEGISLATION, ALTHOUGH SOME STATE AGENCY REGULATIONS OR EXECUTIVE ORDERS GOVERNING STATE AGENCIES ARE INCLUDED WHEN THEY IMPLEMENT OR ARE IN PLACE OF LEGISLATION. NO LOCAL GOVERNMENT ORDINANCES OR OTHER PROPOSALS THAT DO NOT HAVE THE FORCE OF LAW ARE INCLUDED. TRAFFIC LAWS OR REGULATIONS AND STATE LICENSING LAWS HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED UNLESS THEY HAVE DIRECT REFERENCE TO ACCESS OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION. TO ASSIST IN UTILIZING THE COMPENDIUM, A TABLE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DOCUMENT CONTAINS A DETAILED MATRIX SUMMARIZING THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY OF THE STATES. REFERENCES ARE KEYED TO SPECIFIC SECTIONS OF STATE LEGISLATION. THE LEGISLATION IS ORGANIZED ALPHABETICALLY BY STATE AND INCLUDES THE STATUTES OF ALL 50 STATES, THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, PUERTO RICO, AND THE VIRGIN ISLANDS. A LIST OF THE CATEGORIES USED TO CLASSIFY THE LEGISLATION AND A BRIEF DEFINITION OF EACH IS PROVIDED. SUCH CATEGORIES AS THE RIGHT TO INSPECT RECORDS, JUDICIAL REVIEW OF CHALLENGED INFORMATION, REGULATION OF DISSEMINATION, RESEARCHER ACCESS TO INFORMATION, AND ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF RECORDS ARE INCLUDED. SINCE ONE PURPOSE OF THIS SURVEY WAS TO EXAMINE THE NATURE AND EXTENT OF STATE LEGISLATIVE ACTIVITY DURING THE PRECEDING 3 YEARS, A MATRIX COMPARING RESULTS OF THE CURRENT SURVEY WITH THOSE OF A SIMILAR SURVEY CONDUCTED IN 1974 IS PRESENTED. AN ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE COMPARATIVE RESULTS IS INCLUDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)