Office of the Attorney General
Attorney General's Office Launches Electronic Warrant System In the 53rd Judicial Circuit

Attorney General Jack Conway announced today that his office has completed implementation of eWarrants, an electronic warrant management system, in the 53rd Judicial Circuit, comprised of Anderson, Shelby and Spencer Counties. Funding for the project was provided under a grant by the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Working with the local officials in the 53rd 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 53rd Circuit marks the first rollout under the Attorney General's ARRA grant, which aims to implement eWarrants in 100 rural counties by the end of 2011.

"Today, we take an important step forward in giving Kentucky's law enforcement agencies modern, 21st century tools to fight crime in their communities." General Conway said. "I am hopeful that continued implementation of the eWarrants system throughout Kentucky will improve the safety of Kentucky's citizens and law enforcement officers."

The eWarrants 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.

Kentucky's eWarrants system began as a pilot project in 2005 to address a backlog of nearly 300,000 un-served warrants in the state and is currently operating in Jefferson, Campbell, Scott, Bourbon, Fayette, Woodford and Christian Counties. 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 eWarrants system has increased the service rates of warrants in these counties nearly six-fold in less than a year. More than 62% of the new warrants entered into the eWarrants system have been served, compared to about 10% under the old system.

"The e-Warrants system is modernizing law enforcement in the Commonwealth," said Gov. Steve Beshear. "Kentucky continues to be a leader in utilizing technology to greatly enhance efficiency and improve public safety."

The Administrative Office of the Courts, which provides administrative support to the state's judges, is also pleased that the eWarrants system continues to expand.

"I am excited about the continued implementation of eWarrants which will benefit the criminal justice community statewide," said Laurie K. Dudgeon, Director of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The ARRA grant, which provided funding for implementation and training in the 53rd 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 eWarrants 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 eWarrants 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.