With the planned installation of video and computer equipment, Jackson County Circuit Court will become Oregon's first trial court system with Internet-based web conferencing multimedia capabilities, said administrator Jim Adams.

The new setup — slated for completion in June — will allow criminal arraignments, witness testimony, probation hearings and Jackson County Jail inmate visits to be cast over live, Internet-streaming video. The project is expected to save the county money in employee labor, Adams said.

"The driving force behind this is, upwards of half to two-thirds of the jail staff are tied up with transporting inmates to and from the jail," Adams said.

The county will pay about 61 percent of the project's total cost of $720,976. The Oregon Judicial Department and state funds dedicated to court security will pick up the rest. Subsequent wage savings by the county — primarily in the sheriff's department's budget — will pay for the initial cost within three years, Adams estimated.

"The benefits so outweigh the costs," he said.

On an average weekday, three to four sheriff's deputies spend about two hours taking inmates to and from the Justice Building for their initial appearance in criminal cases, said sheriff's Sgt. Dan Penland. The process leaves the jail short-staffed and unable to maintain normal operations, Penland said.

Keeping inmates in the jail where Web conferencing cameras will bring court hearings to them improves overall efficiency and security while reducing liability, Penland said.

Web casting attorney visits also will keep inmates nearer their cells instead of trudging up and down the jail's stairs to the first-floor visiting area, Penland said. Regular Saturday visitors still will meet in-person with inmates, Penland said. Spearheaded by Jackson County Community Justice, the video visitation project, which comes with a $90,000 price tag, has no connection to the courts, Adams said.

Every courtroom in the Justice Building and one in the new Juvenile Services Building will be outfitted with 42-inch plasma television screens, surround-sound, new computer monitors and digital recording systems in addition to portals where attorneys can plug in computers for multi-media presentations. Because each courtroom is an independent platform, if one's system goes down, the others remain operational, Adams said.

The Justice Building's strategic location between the juvenile building, jail and main county offices allowed the court to intersect existing fiber optics lines, he said. Adams said in the future he also hopes the court can interface with Rogue Valley Medical Center's secure psychiatric ward for mental fitness hearings. The technology installation for the most part will not interrupt normal court hours and operations, Adams said.