Louisville Police to get Electronic Subpoenas in January

A decades-old problem of making sure Louisville Metro Police officers know when they need to be in court may be fixed, thanks to a new electronic subpoena system that will start next month.

Outgoing Mayor Jerry Abramson stood with Police Chief Robert White and other city officials Monday to announce the end of the county's cumbersome system of hand-delivering subpoenas to officers, an antiquated process that has helped cause thousands of felony and misdemeanor cases to be dismissed when police failed to appear.

“It will improve by leaps and bounds everything that we have been able to do in terms of subpoenaing,” said Abramson, noting the city is funding the new system through $480,000 in federal stimulus funds. “It will become a model for other communities statewide.”

In recent years, an estimated 10 percent of the approximately 100,000 paper subpoenas issued annually to Louisville police never reached officers, according to department officials.

Read more here and follow us on Twitter!

Metro Police Adopt Electronic Subpoena System

After years of inaction, Louisville Metro Government has signed a $454,000 contract to adopt an electronic subpoena system to replace the county's cumbersome system of hand-delivering papers and help make sure officers show up for court.

“Everybody's going to benefit from this,” especially police, said Bruce McMichael of the Louisville Metro Criminal Justice Commission.

Metro Police Lt. Col. Vince Robison, responsible for overseeing court attendance, said the department is “very optimistic this will help us eliminate” the problem of officers missing court.

In recent years, an estimated 10 percent of the approximately 100,000 paper subpoenas issued annually to Louisville police never reached the officers, according to department officials. They and others cite the process as one reason why officers miss court.

Read more here and don't forget to subscribe to our free monthly newsletter, The Serve Report, for news, upcoming events, and much more!