
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990                   TAG: 9003202809
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                                LENGTH: Short

TV JUDGES TO BE REALITY IN CHESAPEAKE COURTS

Chesapeake is experimenting with using closed-circuit television to bring people to court instead of hiring more magistrates to keep up with the growing load of cases.

By using an $85,000 audio-visual system approved this year by the General Assembly, residents and police officers in one precinct will be able to swear out warrants and negotiate bonds without driving to court.

"The idea would be a police officer, rather than making that long drive down to the main office, would simply come in and plug into the camera. Blink - a magistrate on the other end would appear," said Ronald B. Neely, a magistrate technical assistant at the state Supreme Court in Richmond.

Chesapeake's system, the first of its kind in Virginia, is to be on the air by the end of the year.

- Associated Press

by CNB