A critical counterterrorism office — responsible for maintaining, consolidating and distributing terrorist watch list information — continues to struggle to efficiently manage data, possibly creating cracks a threatening person could slip through, according to an audit released Thursday by the Justice Department.

The Office of Inspector General identified 20 watch list records pertaining to suspected or known terrorists that were not catalogued appropriately by the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), making the information unavailable to frontline screening agents, including border patrol officers, visa application reviewers and local police.

The center is a Northern Virginia-based multi-agency clearinghouse, administered by the FBI and designed to provide responses to federal, state and local law enforcement queries 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The multi-agency center is anchored by the Justice, Homeland Security and State departments as well as agencies within the intelligence community.

“It is critical that the TSC further improve the quality of its watch list data because of the consequences of inaccurate or missing information,” said Glenn A. Fine, DOJ inspector general. “Inaccurate, incomplete, and obsolete watch list information can increase the risk of not identifying known or suspected terrorists, and it can also increase the risk that innocent persons will be stopped or detained.”

Another problem area covered in the report concerns the accuracy of the information maintained at the TSC. The inspector general examined 105 records that were routinely reviewed for quality assurance by the center and found that 38 percent contained errors or inconsistencies that were not previously identified. The inspector general advised TSC-participating agencies to do more to ensure that watch list records are maintained accurately.

The audit also recommends that partner agencies do more work to define responsibilities and time frames for handling data quality assurance matters. These definitions should include a comprehensive protocol for TSC’s quality assurance procedures and a method for reviewing staff members’ work.

TSC currently maintains two interconnected versions of the terrorist watch list database, which are supposed to contain identical information. However, the inspector general found that content in the two databases doesn’t match and contain differing record totals. TSC is in the process of developing a single upgraded database that will eliminate the need for two systems.

The TSC is also taking too much time to review all its watchlist records and complete redress reviews for people who have been misidentified and confused with somebody in the watchlist databases, according to the audit.

In all, the inspector general recommended 18 actions the FBI and partner agencies should take to improve operations and watch list data at the TSC, including:

• Incorporating elements from the TSC’s special project quality assurance reviews into its routine quality review process.

• Developing standard operating procedures for quality assurance matters.

• Resolving weaknesses in the watch list data sets.

• Formalizing a process to ensure that outdated or obsolete data is removed from the systems in a timely manner.

• Working to revise the current watchlist nomination process.

• Utilizing the FBI’s Automated Case Support system to track all quality assurance classified correspondence, including e-mails and electronic communications.

• Developing a tickler system or electronic dashboard for tracking pending quality assurance matters.

• Developing a framework for a program that would review watchlist records of frequently encountered individuals.

The TSC said it concurred with all 18 of the recommendations and has already taken some action to respond to them.

Matthew M. Johnson can be reached at mjohnson@cq.com.