Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General's Office Launches Electronic Warrant System in the 56th Judicial Circuit

Attorney General Jack Conway today announced that his office has completed implementation of an electronic warrant management system (eWarrants) in the 56th Judicial Circuit (Livingston, Lyon, Caldwell and Trigg counties). This brings to 49 the number of counties that have received the eWarrant system under a $3.9 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant awarded to the Office of the Attorney General in 2009.

Working with local officials in the 56th judicial circuit, the Office of the Attorney General, in partnership with the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), the Kentucky State Police, the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security and Open Portal Solutions, Inc., provided training and support for the new system.

The eWarrant system facilitates the sharing of information among all law enforcement concerning active warrants in jurisdictions throughout the Commonwealth. It replaces the manual protocols for processing warrant information with an electronic method for making warrants available via the Law Enforcement Information Network of Kentucky (LINK), the system administered by Kentucky State Police and used by law enforcement to transmit and retrieve information on active warrants.

"With the successful launch in the 56th judicial circuit, nearly 2.4 million Kentuckians, or 56% of the state's population, now live in counties served by eWarrants," said General Conway. "The eWarrants system allows law enforcement and the criminal justice system to operate more efficiently and ultimately makes our streets safer."

With today's launch, another nearly 2,000 active warrants have been added to the eWarrant system for service by law enforcement. Since the first roll-out under the ARRA grant on Oct. 26, 2010 in the 53rd Judicial Circuit, nearly 230,000 warrants and summons have been processed through the eWarrant system and are no longer considered active.

Service rates for warrants rise from as low as 10% under the old system to roughly 50% immediately after implementation of eWarrants, and as high as 80% in the long-term.

"I'm pleased with the successful launch of eWarrants in the 56th Judicial Circuit," said Lyon County Attorney Brandon Knoth. "I think every circuit in Kentucky has struggled with the backlog in the service of warrants and this will definitely help. This technology will streamline the process between law enforcement, prosecutors and judges, which in turn benefits the public."

Kentucky's eWarrant system began as a pilot project in 2005 to address a backlog of nearly 300,000 un-served warrants in the state. A backlog in the service of warrants, or a misplaced or lost warrant, could allow a person charged with a violent crime to evade arrest and continue to victimize Kentucky citizens.

The ARRA grant, which provided funding for implementation and training in the 56th judicial circuit, was awarded from the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance under the category of Facilitating Rural Justice Information Sharing. Under this category, the Bureau of Justice Assistance makes awards to help law enforcement in rural areas to improve the criminal justice system by aiding communities in combating crime and drugs.

The eWarrant program is being offered to Kentucky's rural counties at no cost to local communities. In addition to modernizing law enforcement infrastructure, the ARRA grant has created 16 jobs for citizens of the Commonwealth. Individuals may obtain more information about eWarrants by filling out the eWarrant contact form on the Attorney's General's website, at http://ag.ky.gov/ewarrants

* This project was supported by award No. 2009-SD-B9-0067, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice.