The LaPorte County Sheriff’s Office is the 100th law enforcement agency to begin using the Indiana Supreme Court’s award winning electronic Citation and Warning System (eCWS) or e-Ticket.  The system allows law enforcement officers to use a hand held device to scan a bar code on a driver license to instantly create a traffic ticket.  The e-Ticket can then be sent to courts and the BMV.  Members of the public and the press are invited to learn more about e-Ticket at a special briefing.

Supreme Court Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., Sheriff Michael F. Mollenhauer, and others will demonstrate e-Ticket and answer questions about the system at the briefing.  The briefing will include an explanation on why e-Tickets are safer for police and the public and why they are more efficient for taxpayers.

The e-Ticket system was created in 2007 by the Indiana Supreme Court under the direction of State Court Administration’s Judicial Technology and Automation Committee (JTAC). “This is a proud milestone for the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department and the Indiana Supreme Court," Justice Frank Sullivan, Jr., said.  “This is 21st-century technology that will make patrolling and ticketing more efficient and safe for officers.  Traffic tickets can be uploaded to a web-based system where cases can automatically be filed with the Indiana Supreme Court’s statewide case management system called Odyssey and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV).  This eliminates data errors and saves countless dollars on administrative time, paper filing and tracking.” 

Sheriff Michael Mollenhauer explained the importance of e-Ticket for safety.  “We are most pleased to say it enhances public safety by getting officers and motorists off the roadside more quickly.  The time needed for a traffic stop is greatly reduced with e-Ticket.  We are also fortunate the system was provided to us without any cost to local law enforcement or taxpayers.” 

E-Ticket software and training are provided to law enforcement agencies at JTAC’s cost.  It was developed with state and federal grant dollars.  The Indiana Supreme Court works in partnership with the Indiana State Police, Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and law enforcement officials including the Indiana Association of Chiefs of Police, the Indiana Sheriffs’ Association, and local departments across the state.

Over a million warnings and tickets have already been created using e-Ticket.  More information can be found online at http://courts.in.gov/jtac/programs/ecws.html.