Electronic Monitoring Program

Sheriff’s Office Announces Electronic Monitoring Program Transition from Radio Frequency to GPS Bracelets

To address the continued increase of criminal defendants court-ordered to the program, the Sheriff’s Office has made the administrative decision to formally transition all EM equipment from radio frequency units to GPS bracelets. The transition process began in July of 2020 and has been completed as of 1/28/21. Every EM participant is released on a GPS bracelet. The inclusion of GPS technology, which tracks home monitoring compliance through a combination of cell towers and global positioning satellites, does not require CCSO personnel to use or “set up” a control box in the residence of the participant. This change in technology does not impact the terms of the program itself or home confinement requirements for EM participants.

This transition to GPS does not change the Sheriff’s Office’s inability to accept domestic violence offenders. The Sheriff’s Office currently does not have the victim notification technology utilized by the Office of the Chief Judge, and therefore, any persons charged with domestic violence related charges who is ordered to the Sheriff’s Office’s EM will still be referred back to the court for placement on the Chief Judge’s Pretrial Services program.

The new GPS technology does allow for messages to be sent to a participant through the bracelet if the participant is non-compliant with the program. Vibrations, tones and even voice calls can be utilized to communicate with the participant. All participants will receive notice of these features upon placement on the program, including an explanation of the two-way call functionality on the device.