Justin Guido

A pilot program for electronic search warrants in Bedford County is reducing wait times for officers to test blood when pulling over suspected drunken drivers.

The Bedford County district attorney’s office paired with private company Easy Warrants around March to quickly send electronic search warrants between officers and the on-call district judge, according to Nathan Boob, the traffic safety resource prosecutor for the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association. The electronic search warrants are utilized during traffic stops where the driver is suspected of impaired driving.

Boob said, barring a special exception, police are required to have blood tested within two hours of a traffic stop to be admissible in court. He said the longer police must wait to test blood, the more the evidence dissipates.

“Especially in rural counties, you may have a DUI that occurs in the northern end of your county and it’s a 45-minute drive to the nearest (district judge),” Boob said.

He said when an officer in the program prepares a warrant on their mobile terminal, the system sends a time-sensitive notification to the on-call judge. The judge then reviews the warrant and may call the officer to have them swear to the warrant over the phone.

The judge then electronically signs or rejects the search warrant. The signed warrant with the court’s seal is then sent back to the officer’s mobile terminal to print and serve.

Most counties already have a district judge on call after hours, Boob said. Their on-call schedules are organized by the president judge in each county.

When officers in Butler County conduct a traffic stop and the driver refuses a blood test to confirm DUI suspicions, the officer must draft and fax or deliver a search warrant to the on-call judge, according to Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger. Officers can fax the search warrant to the district judge from the police barracks or hospital, or drive it to the judge.

“I think it is something worth exploring for sure,” Goldinger said about the program.

Boob said he has heard from Easy Warrants that officers like the program and have reduced the time spent at traffic stops. He said multiple vendors facilitate similar programs.

Boob said the program can especially benefit rural counties with lower staffing numbers and longer driving times. He said Lancaster and Lehigh counties have also shown interest in the program.

Boob wants to make the program is available around the state and referred to Arizona as a model, where police officers can also be qualified phlebotomists.

“The idea is police work is not a 9-5 job,” Boob said.

The pilot program implemented in Bedford County applies only to alcohol.