Countywide

Acting on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Sheriff Jim Roache ordered a new booking procedure that requires arresting officers to write a declaration showing probable cause for an arrest before a suspect can be booked into county jails.

Under the new plan, an arresting officer must sign the declaration under penalty of perjury before jail officials will incarcerate a suspect. The new requirement for arresting officers went into effect this morning.

Roache said he was forced to make the change because the Supreme Court ruled that a judge has to determine there was probable cause for an arrest within 48 hours of the time that a person is taken into custody. If a judge fails to find probable cause within that time, the suspect must be released, said a statement released by Roache’s office.

The arresting officer’s declaration will be filed with the sheriff and be available for a judge’s review at any time.

The Sheriff’s Department distributed training videos to local law enforcement agencies to help acquaint them with the new procedure.