By Kevin Krause
The Dallas Morning News
DALLAS, Texas — Dallas County’s jails soon will be outfitted with video cameras so jail inmates don’t have to be shuttled to courtrooms to be arraigned in front of a judge.
Instead, judges will speak with defendants and their attorneys on video monitors. Paperwork will be faxed. And jail guards can spend their time on other important tasks.
Next week, county commissioners are expected to approve spending $47,583 in reserve money on the video arraignment system, which will be provided by AT&T.
A pilot program that began about a month ago in the George Allen jail has worked smoothly with no reported glitches, said Assistant Chief Deputy Mona Birdwell. Eventually, the county’s other jails and Parkland Memorial Hospital will also be outfitted with video communications equipment.
Chief Birdwell said her department transports an average of 50 inmates a day to the main courtroom at the Lew Sterrett Justice Center for arraignment on new or revised charges.
That means guards must transport them by van to the main jail from one of the three off-site lock-ups: the Suzanne Kays jail, the George Allen jail and the Decker jail. Guards then have to bring them before a magistrate judge for arraignment.
“It’s been very time-consuming and a security risk to move them back and forth,” Chief Birdwell said. “We’re very excited about the future of this.”
During arraignment, judges at the main jail inform defendants of their legal rights as well as the charges against them. Defendants enter a plea and bail is set; then they are returned to jail to await release or trial.
Last fiscal , an estimated 71,737 arraignments were held in Dallas County. Of those, 8,000 defendants, or 11 percent, were returned to the magistrate court for arraignment on new, enhanced or reduced charges after their arrest.
Using video communication will allow such inmates to be arraigned immediately, without having to wait until the next day. That will reduce crowding in holding areas, county officials say.
The Sheriff’s Department has been discussing the idea for several years, with the help of Chief Magistrate Judge Boyd Patterson.
County Budget Director Ryan Brown told commissioners Tuesday that when all the kinks are worked out, cameras also will be installed in the Justice of the Peace courts. Juvenile court and some civil court proceedings also could benefit from the technology, officials said.
“It should definitely save the county a lot of time and effort,” Mr. Brown told commissioners.
The Sheriff’s Department needs to get as much efficiency out of its jail guards as possible. Its jails have failed state inspections four years in a row, mostly due to understaffing. The state requires a minimum of one guard for every 48 inmates. The Sheriff’s Department is continuing to fill several hundred jail guard positions added since last year.
Mr. Brown said the video equipment also will be useful if a defendant in custody in another county or state needs to be arraigned on Dallas County charges. It would save the county the time and expense of dispatching deputies to pick up the suspect and transport him or her back to Dallas, he said, as long as the other jurisdiction also has video capabilities.
And other law enforcement agencies in Dallas County could purchase the equipment to allow for arraignments from their jail facilities.
Commissioners were quickly sold on the idea.
“It should be money well-spent,” Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield said.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners directed Parkland board members to proceed with plans to build a new 582-bed hospital.
An advisory blue-ribbon committee appointed by county commissioners presented its recommendation to the court to build a $754 million hospital, to be completed by 2013. A 280-bed facility for women and infants would cost an additional $393 million as part of a later phase.
Commissioners were in agreement on the plan, which would require a November 2008 bond election to help with financing. If voters approve the bond issue, Parkland’s tax rate would increase by 2 cents, with a 1-cent increase needed to operate the hospital when it opens.
For the owner of a $176,000 home, the county’s average value this year, that would mean $52 more each year in Parkland property taxes.
Copyright 2007 The Dallas Morning News