County begins emonitoring
By Vinde Wells
Senior Editor, Ogle County News
Some offenders who break the law in Ogle County may find themselves wearing an electronic monitoring device, thanks to a new state law. Greg Martin, Director of Ogle County Court Services, told the Ogle County Board Jan. 20 that anyone who violates an order of protection can now be ordered by a judge to wear an ankle bracelet connected to a global positioning system (GPS).
The board approved Martin's recommendation to implement a fee of up to $10 per day, which will be charged to the person ordered to wear the device.
Martin said the Cindy Bischoff law, which went into effect Jan. 1, stipulates that judges must consider electronic monitoring as a bond condition for anyone convicted of violating an order of protection.
The new law is named for an Illinois woman who was murdered at her workplace by her ex-boyfriend against whom she had an order of protection, he said.
The county is leasing the devices from Securealert, a Sandy, Utah-based vendor, which provides the bracelets and monitors them, Martin said.
The system allows home and work addresses, as well as other locations where the victim's order of protection should apply, to be entered into the vendor’s computer.
Martin said the GPS will alert Securealert's employees if the person wearing the monitoring device comes within 1,000 feet of a protected location or exclusion zone.
The vendor will then notify the Ogle County Sheriff's Department.