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County finance committee backs courthouse fingerprint scanner; full board review requested
Summary
Finance committee recommended the county board approve purchase of a fingerprinting machine for courthouse prelim hearings to ensure accurate identification; the device cost was reported at about $14,500 with $2,500 annual maintenance and funding proposed from ARPA‑to‑capital transfers.
The county’s finance chair, Jim Scheelein, reported that the finance committee reviewed a request from the circuit court to purchase a fingerprinting machine so people who are cited and released can be processed and recorded at preliminary hearings.
Scheelein said the device would cost about $14,500 with an annual maintenance fee of approximately $2,500. "The advantages of it is is it gets people into the system, and they'll be tracked," Scheelein said, explaining the county’s motivation to have accurate records for criminal history and identification.
Operational details: Court staff (identified in the meeting as Charlie) explained the machine is not a simple laptop but a cabinet-style unit intended to be housed near the bailiff area and used when court staff are required to process individuals who were cited and released rather than booked at the jail. Charlie said the jail already uses a machine for booked arrestees, but the courthouse needs its own unit to capture people who appear only for preliminary hearings.
Funding and recommendation: The finance committee recommended the county board consider ordering the machine and tracking the purchase to ARPA dollars that the county previously transferred to its capital fund. The committee asked that the purchase request be moved to the full board for approval.
Ending: The board agreed to add the fingerprinting machine purchase to the full county board agenda for formal approval and to consider whether user fees could offset maintenance costs in the future.
