NCJ Number
112306
Journal
National Sheriff Volume: 40 Issue: 3 Dated: (June-July 1988) Pages: 8-9
Date Published
1988
Length
2 pages
Annotation
A two-way audiovisual microwave network that links three courthouses to the Brevard County Jail (Florida) some distance away enables judges to conduct pretrial and posttrial proceedings from the bench in the courthouse in communication with an inmate in a jail studio, thus eliminating transport and courtroom security risks and reducing transport time and personnel costs.
Abstract
The judicial teleconferencing system, in operation since 1987, consists of a pair of two-way microwave routes controlled by computer from the detention center. There, a 140-foot radio tower with microwave dishes beams north to the roof of one courthouse and south to another 140-foot tower at the site of the second courthouse. A 110-foot tower acts as a relay between the second courthouse and the third one. Each location is equipped with video cameras, monitors, and microphones. Since its startup, the system has provided for 900-1,500 inmates a month to have initial proceedings and second appearances, bond hearings and docket soundings, enforcement hearings, motions, pleas, and sentencing. The system cost $443,500, and it is projected to save nearly $100,000 in its first year, mainly in transportation and vehicle maintenance costs. Courtroom and transport security risks have been virtually eliminated for such hearings.