Special Edition Inter-Agency News Release



Special Edition Inter-Agency News Release

Colorado Department of Public Safety

Colorado State Judicial Branch

Colorado District Attorneys Council

Colorado Department of Human Services

Colorado Department of Corrections

June 11, 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Theresa Brandorff

CICJIS Chief Information Officer

303-234-8420

Paper arrest warrant system obsolete in Colorado

New automated process first in the nation

Denver, CO - Colorado has become the first state in the nation to rid itself of paper arrest warrants. In April 2002, Colorado counties began reaping the benefits of this process through the CICJIS Program (Colorado Integrated Criminal Justice Information System). The automated process moves arrest warrants directly from the courts to the cops on the street. The new process significantly improves the timeliness and accuracy of both the issuance and cancellation of arrest warrants.

Historically, courts have issued hundreds of “paper” warrants a day that are forwarded to local law enforcement agencies - a process that can take 2-3 days. Additional time is needed for law enforcement to update the data for the officers - again a process that can take days. During that time, the warrant could not be acted upon by law enforcement. As a result, public and officer safety issues were created.

With the statewide deployment of electronic warrant transfers, the same process takes minutes. Take the approximate 700 warrant additions, modifications, and deletions per day and the efficiencies are obvious - redundant data entry is eliminated. Moreover, officers in the street can utilize the information about the warrant and potential risks to make more informed decisions with near real-time data and as a result, public safety is enhanced.

Theresa Brandorff, CICJIS chief information officer, states, “The system will lessen the chance of false arrests and, more importantly, reduce the chance of inadvertently releasing a wanted person. In the old system, wanted persons in another county could be released while a warrant was waiting to be entered.”

The Colorado system integrates data from the five CICJIS agencies: Departments of Public Safety (Colorado Bureau of Investigation), Adult Corrections, Human Services (Youth Corrections), State Judicial (all district courts and state funded county courts), and the Colorado District Attorney’s Council. The CICJIS team had made automation of the warrant transfer process one of its top priorities.

The electronic warrant transfer process is a part of the state’s integrated criminal justice information system. Colorado is one of only a handful of states that successfully shares criminal justice data between state agencies.

“Colorado is recognized nationally as a leader in criminal justice data sharing,” Brandorff states.

The electronic transfer process resulted from an integrated government project supported and funded by the legislature - without which it could not have been accomplished. The Governor and Chief Justice want to thank the Legislature for their support.

State Court Administrator Gerald Marroney adds, “In Colorado’s ongoing effort to promote e-government, the electronic warrant transfer process is a huge success. Courts and law enforcement had to re-think their business processes for the electronic age.” Executive Director of Public Safety, Sue Mencer notes, “Overcoming business process issues in light of the big picture was a great team accomplishment.” Executive Director of the Colorado District Attorneys Council Peter Weir adds, “The CICJIS program at its finest.”

For more information, please contact Theresa Brandorff at 303-234-8420.

This information is provided as an e-mail service of the Colorado State Judicial Branch, Office of State Court Administrator, 1301 Pennsylvania Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colo. 80203. To discontinue this service, or update your e-mail address, please respond to this message with your name, contact information and any comments.

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