Sheriff's office gets high-tech monitors
JOANNE BRATTON
Bulletin Staff Writer
Inmates released from the Baxter County jail may have to abide by more restrictions if a judge orders them to wear new ankle monitoring bracelets as a condition of their bond.
The Baxter County Sheriff's office has five ankle monitoring bracelets that can be used to monitor a person's whereabouts, if a judge orders those restrictions as conditions of their release from jail, said Capt. Jeff Lewis with the Baxter County Sheriff's office. A judge also could order the monitoring devices to be used for all or part of a person's sentence, he said.
Sheriff's office personnel, as well as local probation and parole officers, were trained Wednesday about the monitoring bracelets' features.
"We're ready to begin using it if we have an appropriate case to do that," Lewis said.
The electronic devices from the Utah-based company SecureAlert are paid for on a per-use basis, so the sheriff's office did not have any initial costs, Lewis said. Offenders will be responsible for paying the $10 daily fee, depending on what features are used.
The ankle monitoring bracelets have a built-in computer chip, GPS tracking device and cell phone, Lewis said. The device can update information every two minutes, he said.
Once the bracelet is in use, authorities use a computer software program to establish zones where the offender is or is not allowed. For instance, if a person is on house arrest, authorities can draw perimeters around the person's house and if the offender moves out of the specified area, authorities will be immediately alerted, Lewis said.
In a similar way, the sheriff's office could delineate areas where offenders — such as those who have violated a no-contact order — are not allowed, he said.
Authorities say they could incorporate a person's work schedule into the tracking software and be alerted if an offender does not arrive at the specified location on time or takes a different route to work.
The cell phone feature allows personnel to talk directly to the offender and a 95-decibel alarm also can be activated, authorities said. The sheriff's office can choose who is alerted and whether they are notified by a phone call, text message or e-mail, he said.
"We set it up on a case-by-case basis," Lewis said.
The monitoring devices also can be used to keep track of an inmate who is released from jail because of a major medical problem, Lewis said. The sheriff's office must pay for all medical care and medications for those in custody at the jail, he added.
The new technology may give judges additional options for conditions of bond release or sentencing.
Currently, 14th Judicial District Judge John Putman says he has used them for younger offenders as conditions of bond to enforce curfews but does not use them on serious cases.