Overton Using GPS System For Certain Suspects

Overton County will now require those charged with certain aggravated crimes to pay for and wear an ankle monitor before they can post bond.

Sheriff John Garrett said the main goal of the system is to protect victims of aggravated assault or aggravated domestic assault. Garrett said the victim can give the GPS monitoring company addresses such as where they live or work to deter the suspect from getting close to them.

“It can be any address that the victim would likely be and this device would signal the company to say suspect is within so many feet of an address that was being watched for the victim,” Garrett said.

Garrett said it is not uncommon for the offender to return to the victim and further harass or assault them in domestic assault cases. Garrett said the system costs $1,800 for those that need to wear it and the county pays for nothing.

“I’m going to say that a lot more of them are going to be sitting in jail until their court date,” Garrett said.

Garrett said the county went through with the program because of a new state law requiring it. Garrett said there has not been anyone in the county who has had to have the device put on and then post bond so far.

“There’s some push back out there over it,” Garrett said. “I really think that legislators are going to have to go back and look at this again.”

Garrett said the system is specifically for aggravated charges to make sure that it does not have to be used for smaller incidents. Garrett said aggravated domestic assault is usually seen in people who are in some kind of romantic relationship.

“If it were all domestic assault victims, that could be two eighteen-year-old brothers that are, they have a disagreement and it comes to fisticuffs and they’re out in the front yard duking it out,” Garrett said. “(If) somebody calls law enforcement, then the primary aggressor goes to jail for domestic assault. And that’s probably not what we really think of when we think of domestic assault.”

Garrett said the new system brings a couple more hurdles for the county’s corrections staff but it is not a major problem.

“The only thing we can hope for here is that more victims stay safe or safer,” Garrett said. “And hopefully that will be a positive impact.”