Program will speed tracking of warrants

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October 6, 2009

By KEVIN YOUNG The Glasgow Daily Times Tue Oct 06, 2009, 12:37 PM CDT

Local law enforcement agencies will soon have a faster, more efficient way to track suspects with outstanding warrants.

Attorney General Jack Conway’s office has received a $3.94 million federal stimulus grant to expand the eWarrants program to rural Kentucky counties during the next two years after a trial period in six counties produced successful results.

“It is going to benefit Barren County soon,” Conway said. “It’s clear we need to move beyond the golden triangle of central Kentucky with this,” he said.

According Conway, the six counties in the trial period reported a 62 percent warrant serving rate with the eWarrants system compared to a 10 percent rate under the former system. Currently, Jefferson, Woodford, Fayette, Scott, Campbell and Bourbon counties participate in the trial program.

The electronic warrant management system allows law enforcement agencies to share information about suspects over a secure online network, which is quicker then the current process of faxing, mailing or hand delivering warrant documents and information between jurisdictions, Conway said. Funding for the grant comes from the American Resource and Recovery Act with approval by the Department of Justice.

“My experience with law enforcement is that they want an efficient system and that’s what we have, and the courts have been largely receptive, too,” he said.

Barren County Sheriff Eaton said he spoke with the attorney general and offered to utilize the eWarrants system in Barren County as a trial for rural counties.

“I told him we would be willing to be a pilot program so we can get it here sooner,” he said.

In the meantime, Eaton wants to speak with agencies in the counties where the system is currently used in order to get the most use from the new technology.

“We will sit down with the people already using it and see how we can use it,” he said. “I think it will be a benefit to Barren County, and anything new for fighting crime, we’re on board.”

Eaton added that there is not currently a backlog of warrants in the county, because the sheriff’s department has an officer who serves warrants full-time and it uses the Barren County’s Most Wanted List.

Greg Vincent, Edmonson County Attorney and president of the Kentucky County Attorneys Association, said he likes the idea that with the new system he can “go to court, ask for a warrant and have it actually be served.” He said eWarrants will make warrants easier to find for both law enforcement and attorneys.

“Currently the system only has high level warrants, which go nationwide. It doesn’t list all of the bench issued warrants for people who have been summoned to court and ran, for example. So if a law enforcement officer were to pull over that individual, it might not come up on the screen. We might as well haven’t even done anything. In the new system, they will all be listed and he can print it off right there.”

The grant is one of seven for which Conway applied earlier this year to assist law enforcement agencies across the state, and he said he is still waiting to hear from the federal government about the others.

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