The Superior Court of Delaware is now using technology to streamline criminal justice. The Court, in cooperation with the Administrative Office of the Courts, has implemented a GUI Windows-based Automated Sentencing Program (ASOP).

On March 27, 2000, ASOP went into full statewide production. The implementation stage began in Delaware's Kent and Sussex Counties and became statewide with the addition of the New Castle County Superior Court in January 2000.

The ASOP application enables the court to issue sentencing orders almost simultaneously with a judge's pronouncement. Previously it would take days to disseminate the information to all criminal justice agencies. Sentencing data is electronically filed and transferred within minutes to prisons and other agencies. Defendants receive a complete copy of their sentencing order in the courtroom. Criminal histories also are updated for future court proceedings.

The results are impressive. Updated realtime criminal records are available for the judge, at the bench. With the click of a button, the judge can view the criminal history of the defendant. The criminal history record allows the judge to view detailed information about any outstanding capias (flagged in red), failure to pay in any court, or failure to appear in any court.

In addition, prison authorities will receive the order electronically before the defendant even arrives for incarceration. Likewise, the Probation and Parole Department will now have an order on file in advance of a defendant showing up to begin probation. Another benefit is putting updated information into the hands of police officers on patrol.