Inmates at the Story County Jail won’t have ink on their hands once a new live-scan fingerprint system is installed. The new system, which uses a computer and glass, will be completed by Dec. 31, 2001. Capt. Gary Foster of the Story County Sheriff’s Office said in the electronic fingerprinting process, the finger is placed on the glass, and the sheriff’s department is able to look at the computer screen and see if it is approved or not. Record cards may then be transferred electronically to the Department of Criminal Investigation, the FBI and the Story County Sheriff’s Office. “The new system uses a computer and glass,” he said. “To accept, all we do is capture it and store it.” Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said the new system will go hand-in-hand with the new Justice Center, and it will eliminate weeks of processing and booking errors. “We’re keeping up with technology,” he said. “Staying on the cutting edge is where we need to be in law enforcement.” In previous years, jailers at the Story County Sheriff’s Office used a booking process that required several steps. Foster said each inmate would have his information typed into the computer, and then have a chemical substance put on his fingers that would be transferred onto three chemical fingerprints cards. Any information typed into the computer had to be retyped onto each fingerprint card before being mailed to the DCI and FBI. Foster said if the information was wrong or had an unreadable print, it was sent back to the original office, causing additional problems in organizing the police records. “If an individual is no longer in jail, we don’t get the opportunity to put this charge in his criminal history data,” Foster said. The Story County Sheriff’s Office is one of the 68 Iowa organizations to receive $5.5 million in funding from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, the Edward Byrne Memorial State and the Local Law Enforcement Assistance Program. “This grant makes it possible for us to purchase equipment that will not only help to improve the efficiency of jail staff, but also allow us to do our part to improve the quality of criminal history information,” Foster said. The total cost for the equipment is $146,251. While the Sheriff’s Office received a grant for the amount of $109,688 toward the new system, it still did not cover the total cost of $146,251. The department made up the necessary $36,563 through the help of Evercom, an inmate telephone provider at the jail. “We are utilizing no tax dollars,” he said. “It really is a win-win situation for the county.” Fitzgerald plans to put the new system into effect by the end of November.