Supervisors Support TV Arraignment Test to Reduce Court Costs

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors, in a move they hope will save money and improve jail security, on Tuesday agreed in concept to deploy a system that will allow judges throughout the county to arraign criminal defendants via a two-way television hookup.

Sheriff’s Department officials say the new video link should help defray the cost of busing in prisoners from such outlying jails as Descanso and Las Colinas.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that there’s going to be savings in this thing,” said Mel Nichols, commander of jail operations for the Sheriff’s Department.

Under the system, a defendant would remain in jail and a television camera would broadcast his or her image to a monitor in the courtroom. A television camera in court would allow the prisoner to watch the judge on a TV set at the jail.

Approved on 4-0 Vote

The board approved the proposal on a 4-0 vote, with Supervisor John MacDonald abstaining. MacDonald said he supported the idea in concept, but could not vote for it until he sees the cost implications.

Other supervisors seemed sure that the new video arraignment system will prove a boon to the county coffers. “I can’t believe that the cost savings won’t be there,” said Supervisor Susan Golding.

Supervisor Brian Bilbray suggested that the new system would help ease overcrowding in San Diego County jails, saying the video arraignments would likely prove “more effective even than building cells.”

In approving the project, the board ordered a 90-day study to determine the cost and time frame for implementing the system countywide. The report also will include an assessment of additional ways that the telecommunications linkup can be used within the criminal justice system, such as other types of hearings or conferences between attorneys and clients.

The video system has been used since December, 1981, in arraignments of misdemeanor cases in San Diego Municipal Court. The South Bay Municipal Court has been using the system for more than a year.

In addition, the Superior Court has conducted tests of the available equipment and experimented with video arraignment of felony cases, linking the San Diego jail with a downtown courtroom.

The expanded system approved by the supervisors Tuesday will allow every jail and courthouse in the county to be linked, officials said. Defendants would not be bused unless they wanted to make a personal appearance before a judge during the arraignment. Officials say their experience with the system on the Municipal Court level shows that almost every defendant opts for the video arraignment.

Nichols said he hopes the system will be in place before the County Jail in Vista is shut this coming spring for renovation. During that yearlong construction project, criminal defendants from North County will be transported to the main jail in downtown San Diego. If the video system is in place, Nichols said, it would save the cost and time of transporting the prisoners back to court in Vista for arraignment.