Court Appearance Notification System - CANS

CANS Goal Statement:

The Court Appearance Notification System (CANS) Program seeks to improve system efficiencies by increasing court-appearance rates and decreasing the number of warrants issued for failure to appear in court.  This will reduce the number of hearings necessary to conclude a case, reduce costs to jail and law enforcement, and increase the responsibility of persons to appear in court, thereby preventing potentially devastating consequences to themselves and family with loss of employment, housing and ability to provide care for family if incarcerated on a warrant for failure to appear.

Program Overview

Consumers are now being offered a complimentary service sponsored by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and the Sauk County Clerk of Courts Office.  Consumers will be offered this complimentary service at multiple points within the Criminal Justice System.

Consumers will be asked to provide a cellular telephone number upon initial contact with law enforcement, when appearing in Court by the bailiff, when meeting with their Public Defender, and if a consumer is booked into the Sauk County Jail they will be asked to provide their cellular telephone number at that point as well.  In addition to the listed enrollment points the Sauk County Bond form has been modified to include an optional space for the consumer’s cellular telephone number and enrollment.  Consumers will also have the ability to fill out a voluntary enrollment form when visiting the Clerk of Courts Office or by downloading the document from the County website, which can then be dropped off or mailed to the Clerk of Courts Office.

The Court Appearance Notification System is an automated text system that provides appearance reminders to those who enroll.  These text reminders will be automatically sent two business days before a scheduled court appearance.  Those who are enrolled may also receive custom messages for reasons identified by the Clerk of Courts Office.  Examples may include: weather closings or cancelations.

An example of the notification text message reads: Your Sauk County Initial Appearance for case 2014CF000000 is @ 08:00 am on Wed Mar 31.  Replies discarded.

This is a voluntary service and consumers will sign a voluntary enrollment form in order to participate. Once enrolled consumers may request that reminders be discontinued; however, a written request must first be sent to the Clerk of Courts Office.    This complimentary service is being offered to anyone who has a Sauk County case and wishes to participate.