NCAWARE (North Carolina Warrant Repository) was approved and funded by the legislature and launched in Johnston County in 2008. Development partners include the State Bureau of Investigation, local law enforcement agencies, the Department of Correction, the Division of Motor Vehicles and the State Highway Patrol, Magistrates and Clerk of Court Offices.

Here’s how the system works: Judicial officials, usually magistrates, create criminal process documents like arrest warrants and criminal summonses. The documents are stored permanently and in real-time in NCAWARE and can be viewed by anyone with access to the system. During a routine traffic stop, any law enforcement officer with internet connection and password can find out if the person they stopped has outstanding warrants for other, potentially more serious offenses. This access to information gives officers the ability to decide if it is safe to approach an offender or if back-up needs to be called.

All records starting with the year 2000 will be migrated from the old “Magistrates” System to NCAWARE, a total of five million person records and 400,000 mug shots. It’s estimated that there are 350,000 orders for arrest and another 350,000 criminal summons and warrants in the system. Mecklenburg alone has 15,000 Restraining Orders, 9,000 Civil Orders for Arrest, 119,000 Warrants and 114,000 Orders for Arrest. NCAWARE puts that information at the fingertips of as many as 35,000 law enforcement officers will result in long-dormant cases being adjudicated.

Mecklenburg County Business Support Services Agency - Information Technology (BSSA-IT) partnered with State and local court officials including magistrates to make the technology possible. BSSA-IT will provide temporary in-person assistance to magistrates and then will provide ongoing help desk services.

As a companion application, Mecklenburg County IT staff designed and built a desktop application that enables Mecklenburg County Sheriff's Office intake personnel to manage arrest data. The application replaces a mainframe application, conforms to the rules in NCAWARE and communicates with NCAWARE via messages that are triggered when certain business processes occur. The application also provides Sheriff's Office staff with a dashboard that displays what stage an arrest is in throughout the intake process and guides users step-by-step.

“NCAWARE has provided us with an additional tool to ensure accuracy and efficiency in our work,” said Chief Deputy Sheriff Felicia McAdoo. “The Sheriff’s Office, and especially the Arrest Processing staff is excited to be linked into this Statewide system, as well as the new Arrest Processing System that went online simultaneously with NCAWARE.”

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Media Contact: Gwen Simmons at 704-336-6611 or Gwen.Simmons@MecklenburgCountyNC.gov