Council approves Rock Island County e-citation agreement; startup costs covered by county grants

Moline’s City Council on July 22 authorized an intergovernmental agreement to join a countywide electronic-citation (e-citation) system administered by the Rock Island County circuit clerk. The police chief told the council the system will replace handwritten ticket books and that county grants and the Emergency Telephone System Board (ETSB) will cover initial vendor and interface costs so the city’s initial capital outlay is minimal.

Police staff said the county clerk secured more than $300,000 in grants to implement an e-citation vendor compatible with the state court system, but the county-vendor product required an interface to connect to local records-management systems. Council staff said ETSB purchased a universal API interface to bridge systems and prevent an annual $50,000 vendor-interface charge that would otherwise have fallen to local agencies.

The chief said the city will receive printers and docking equipment for patrol vehicles paid for by the county clerk and ETSB; the city will absorb minor installation costs such as brackets and in-vehicle wiring via fleet/public-works labor. The agreement describes the parties’ roles and memorializes that the county and ETSB will fund the initial procurement and integration while individual jurisdictions maintain equipment replacements and incidental in-vehicle maintenance going forward.

Council members supported the modernization effort and said the agreement provides a cost-effective way to update citation processes while integrating with the state court system. The council approved the intergovernmental agreement by motion.