A partnership between several Oklahoma state agencies is taking the criminal justice system in Oklahoma County one step closer to modernization, reports The Oklahoman. County Court Clerk Tim Rhodes and the state Corrections Department are operating a pilot program that allows a convicted inmate's sentencing to be electronically submitted from the court house to prison staff. The program streamlines inmate transfers in the county by eliminating pen and pad documentation and the involvement of an entire agency in the process.
When an offender is charged in Oklahoma, the county clerk gives the conviction and length of sentence information, known as a “judgment and sentencing,” to the county jail where the offender is housed. It's up to sheriffs when to notify the state Corrections Department of that sentencing and deliver the inmate to the state inmate reception center. “We were already scanning those documents into our computer system,” Rhodes said. “So, rather than printing them, multiple copies, stamping the certification stamp and then squeezing it with the old cast iron seal and mailing them or holding them here for someone to pick up … all those steps have been eliminated.”