Breckenridge Texan

The Stephens County Sheriff’s Department has launched a new online jail roster that officials say will provide more accurate and streamlined information to the public.

Sheriff Kevin Roach said the department switched to new software last week, going live Wednesday with the updated system for booking inmates.

“The company we switched to, they’re doing a data migration from the old company, old software, to the new software,” Roach said during a recent interview about the changes.

The new system features several changes to jail roster format. Unlike the old system, which displayed historical arrest records, the updated website shows only current charges.

“One of the main things is what you will be viewing online is their current arrest record, not historical,” Roach explained. “So when you look at someone (on the roster), it shows each charge that they’re currently booked in on.”

The previous system was more comprehensive but confusing, according to Roach.

“The old one was kind of antiquated, but whenever someone popped up on there, it showed every arrest that was in the computerized system,” he said. “You’d have to scroll all the way the bottom and try to figure out what they were currently jailed for. And then it would list like three different arrests. If they had three different charges, it’d show three different arrests on that. So it was kind of convoluted. This narrows it down to one arrest with all charges listed.”

A key improvement involves data accuracy. The old system displayed information in real-time as staff entered it, which sometimes led to errors appearing on the public website before corrections could be made. The new system allows staff to review and verify information before it goes public.

“This new system gives us the ability to withhold it going live to the website until we’re ready, and then there’s a way for them to populate it to the website once it’s all done and correct,” Roach said.

The department is still developing policies about when information will be posted online. Currently, staff wait until the booking process is complete before making records public.

“As of right now, they’re not putting it live until they completed the booking process and they’re double checking their information make sure it’s all right,” Roach said.

The sheriff’s office is consulting with attorneys and county representatives about the proper timing for posting arrest information.

“That’s being discussed now through some attorneys and county representation to see exactly what’s public information and not public information,” he said. “Historically, it’s not public information until arraignment.”

The new website features three main search options: current inmates, 24-hour arrests, and inmates by arrest date. Users can search by name and date range to find information about past arrests, provided those records have been computerized.

Officials are still working through technical issues as the data migration continues. Inmate photos are currently not available on the new website, but Roach said they are working to restore them.

“There were some hang ups with the photographs being migrated, but they’re slowly getting there. They said by the end of the day, they should all be migrated,” Roach said.

However, he noted that not all photos may appear immediately on the public website.

“Even in our in-house system, all the photos aren’t attached to our inmate files digitally. So I don’t know if they’re going to migrate to the website by the end of the day as well, or just into our software, but moving forward, it should be just like you see it now with the additional photos,” Roach said.

The sheriff acknowledged that staff members are discovering minor glitches as they use the new system but expressed optimism that most issues will be resolved quickly.

“I hope that they were already worked out. But it’s one of those things. Every time we go in, I keep finding other little things,” Roach said.

The new jail roster can be accessed through the county’s website, which has been updated with the new link to the system. Click here to see the new jail roster.