Protection orders to be delivered electronically in North Dakota

Domestic violence protection orders will be delivered electronically to North Dakota law enforcement agencies by the end of the year, the state court administrator says.

USA Today

The Web-based program will enter the protection orders in a state registry and in a national domestic violence registry, Ted Gladden said.

"If officers have computers in their cars, they’ll be able to bring the actual copy of the order up on the computer and read what the provisions are," Gladden said.

Under the current system, officers have to contact a county in which the protection order was issued to get details, he said. The electronic system has been tested in Burleigh County, he said, and domestic violence advocates and court clerks are being trained to use it.

"In some locations, where they’ve got Internet access, the advocates will be entering the petition information on computer, so that when somebody sits down at a safe house and is working with an advocate, they can go in and enter all the vital information," Gladden said.

"In other locations, where they don’t have Internet access, that data will be entered by court personnel," he said.

The cost of the system is estimated at about $50,000.
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-10-22-nd-domestic-violence-db_x.htm