Madison County deputies to receive mobile printers

by Randy Pierce • Increased functionality is a feature of 42 mobile thermal printers which Madison County is purchasing for its sheriff’s department deputies, according to information brought forward during a meeting of its judiciary committee held on Thursday, April 2. 

As explained by Circuit Clerk Patrick McRae, this joint project between his department and the sheriff’s office will allow patrol deputies to be more efficient and to incorporate additional information as necessary onsite when writing citations or handling accident reports.

The vendor providing the printers at a total cost of $29,951.64 is Saltus Technologies of Tulsa, Oklahoma which specializes in products it calls “e-citations” and “digitickets” for local and state governments. The request by McRae’s department to acquire the printers has to go through another committee review before being considered by the full county board next Wednesday, April 15.

McRae explained that for every citation written by a county sheriff’s department officer, when paid by the offender, 100% of the money goes into a fund maintained for the purpose of helping to pay for related expenses. If a citation is written by someone from the county law enforcement agency within a local municipality, the county only receives a share of the money.

These funds are reallocated, McRae said, to the sheriff’s department “to make a purchase that’s meaningful and this made a lot of sense.”

“This is going to give them some more ability to write warrants on the street,” McRae told the judiciary committee. “Right now, they have smaller printers.”

McRae further commented that he viewed this process between his department, which processes such citations, and the sheriff’s office as “an exciting collaboration.”