Mahoning, Trumbull courts to receive new fingerprint scanners from state grant program

Courts within Mahoning and Trumbull County will receive new fingerprint scanners from a state grant program to "bolster criminal-records systems" within the Valley.
Announced in a press release from the Attorney General's Office, the state's criminal-records repository will pay for 77 new devices that courts across Ohio will use to capture defendants' fingerprints for submission to the database.
"Fingerprints are a critical piece of the puzzle when verifying someone's identity and checking their criminal backgrounds," said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. "These grant funds are being invested in the courts to further modernize the record-keeping system by building in a more fail-safe process to collect fingerprints."
The new machines, called LiveScan devices, will be distributed to courts in 42 counties, including Mahoning and Trumbull County, to "shore up gaps in defendant fingerprinting" and better maintain records in the state's Computerized Criminal History (CCH) database.
The Youngstown Municipal Court in Mahoning County will receive two of these new LiveScan devices. The Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, Trumbull County Juvenile Court, and Warren Municipal Court will all receive one.
The devices, which cost $898,450, were purchased through a National Criminal History Improvement Program grant being administered by the Attorney General's Office. The use of these funds is a part of a process that the Attorney General hopes will "modernize numerous aspects of that state's criminal record-keeping and reporting processes."