The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says it will expand the "eCharging" system that has been tested in Virginia to include all of St. Louis County and several other counties across the state.
The eCharging system allows for the electronic
filing of criminal documents. According to the DPS, the process allows a criminal complaint to be processed in as little as
30 minutes without any of the individuals involved having to leave their desks.
"St. Louis County is the first county in the country to implement an eCharging service for all criminal complaints," DPS spokesman Andy Skoogman said. "This will save a ton of time, money and resources. It will keep cops out on streets, so it should improve public safety."
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The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension's eCharging Service was launched as a pilot program in Virginia on March 19.
"It has worked out well so far," St. Louis County Chief Judge James B. Florey said. "It allows us, in an online format, to completely process a case in the court system from law enforcement referral, to the county attorney, to their referral to the courts, to the court's approval of the complaint, which then gets automatically and immediately shipped back to the court administrator's office."
The system has had some bugs, St. Louis County Attorney Melanie Ford said, but "once we have everything ironed out, it will be a timesaver. It will help us get cases processed faster and at a cost savings."
The DPS and St. Louis County officials will talk about the eCharging system and its scheduled expansion at an official announcement today in the St. Louis County Courthouse in Virginia.
