The Marshall County Council members discussed the purchase of an iTouch Biometric Fingerprint system for the probation department.
Sheriff Matt Hassel presented the request to the Marshall County Commissioners in December who supported the effort. He presented the same information to the county council Monday morning.
“The new computer system that the court operates under, which is the statewide system Odyssey, we run into a problem where a person gets charged, they’re never taken to jail, they go through court, they plead guilty to a misdemeanor domestic violence, and they don’t get sentenced to any jail time – there’s no mechanism to collect fingerprints for them,” said Hassel.”
Sheriff Hassel is asking for $15,208.15 to purchase of the state police preferred iTouch Biometric Fingerprint system.
Marshall County Community Corrections Director Ward Byers explained that capturing fingerprints of all offenders convicted of a crime is mandatory.
“Some of the probation staff will be trained and my field officers in community corrections will be trained,” said Byers. “We’ll have a collaborative effort between community corrections and probation to make certain that everyone is fingerprinted and everyone’s DNA is collected and submitted to the state in accordance to Indiana law.”
The council unanimously voted to support the purchase and advertise for an additional appropriation to purchase the system in February.
