Sangamon County Circuit Clerk Joe Roesch and Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell have announced the installation of document scanners in all of Sangamon County’s courtrooms.
According to a press release, the installation will increase the efficiency with which court documents, including orders of protection, can be transferred to the Sheriff’s Department in order to more quickly serve those documents on respondent suspects.
Prior to placing scanners in courtrooms, the Circuit Clerk would take the signed orders and scan these orders to the Sheriff’s Office following the court or physically take the order to the Sheriff’s Office, where Sheriff’s records employees would enter the data into the law enforcement system. Then, Sheriff’s deputies take the individual orders and serve the orders of protection upon the suspects. Under the prior procedure, the Sheriff’s Office may not receive the orders of protection for several hours or the next day. With the new scanners in place, the Circuit Clerk can scan the orders immediately to the Sheriff’s Office.
Campbell and Roesch say the new procedure will better protect petitioners in domestic violence cases.