eLitigation
Automated Sentencing Order Program (ASOP)
The Automated Sentencing Order Program (ASOP) is another technology used to streamline criminal justice. The Superior Court, in cooperation with the Administrative Office of the Courts, implemented a statewide windows-based sentencing program on March 27, 2000.
The applications' implementation stage began in Kent and Sussex Countiesand became statewide with the addition of New Castle County Superior Court in January 2000.
The ASOP application enables the court to issue sentencing orders simultaneously with a judge's pronouncement. Before 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 and criminal histories are updated for future court proceedings. The defendant also receives a complete copy of their sentencing order in the courtroom.
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 defendant's criminal history. The 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 receive the order electronically before the defendant arrives for incarceration. The application also puts updated information in the hands of police officers on patrol. Likewise, the Probation and Parole Department have an order on file in advance of a defendant's probation.
