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VINE Training Sessions Start for Oklahoma County

"To date, more than 1,500 e-mail addresses and phone numbers are registered to be notified about inmate status."

Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office today will host two training seminars for Oklahomans interested in learning how to use VINE, Oklahoma's criminal tracking system.

VINE, which stands for victim information and notification everyday, is currently being implemented in Oklahoma on a county-by-county basis. The system allows citizens to register to be notified of changes in inmates' status. Notifications can occur either by phone or by e-mail and will occur when an inmate is transferred, released, paroled or dies. Users can also call the system, 24-hours a day for updated information.

 "VINE is now in use in 51 counties," Edmondson said. "To date, more than 1,500 e-mail addresses and phone numbers are registered to be notified about inmate status. Now that the system is in place, we want to arm Oklahomans with the confidence to utilize the technology and information in a way that most benefits their personal safety and that of their loved ones."

The training sessions will be held Tues., Sept. 4, on the Oklahoma City campus of Oklahoma State University, 900 N. Portland. The first session will run from 10:30 a.m. to noon. A second session will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Both sessions will be held in the North and South Conference Room on the third floor of the Student Center, and they will be conducted by Jennifer Taylor, VINE coordinator for the attorney general's office.

Seating for the sessions is limited. Interested participants should reserve their seats by calling the attorney general's office at (405) 521-4289.

Edmondson's office received a $1.2 million Bureau of Justice Assistance grant to fund the costs of start up and two years operation. Once the federal monies are gone, his office will then seek an additional state appropriation to fund the program. He estimates the yearly costs to be about $450,000. The program is provided without cost to the law enforcement agencies who use the system.

Counties currently using the VINE system are: Adair, Alfalfa, Beaver, Beckham, Bryan, Cherokee, Choctaw, Cleveland, Craig, Custer, Delaware, Dewey, Ellis, Garfield, Garvin, Greer, Harmon, Harper, Haskell, Hughes, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnston, Kingfisher, Kiowa, Latimer, Logan, Major, Marshall, Mayes, McClain, McIntosh, Murray, Nowata, Oklahoma, Okmulgee, Pawnee, Pittsburg, Pontotoc, Pushmataha, Roger Mills, Rogers, Seminole, Sequoyah, Stephens, Tillman, Tulsa, Wagoner, Washington, Washita and Woodward.

Edmondson said he hopes to have VINE in place in all 77 Oklahoma counties by May 2008.