Timely Transmission of TraCS eCitations for DA Routing

For an eCitation to be useful to the DA office, it MUST be received by them in a timely fashion.  In general, that means less than 24 hours from the time of the incident, and certainly before the paperwork arrives in their office, particularly if the defendant is in custody.  The eCitation information is needed for the DA to file the criminal complaint.

In order for an eCitation to be received in the DA office, Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) TraCS Administration staff should insure the following procedure is implemented in their agency:

1. The "DA ROUTING?" field of the ELCI, and/or the "ROUTE TO DA?" field in the MUNI must have a “Y” in the field.  The field is auto populated with a “Y” based off if the State Statute is a Criminal statute.  Users may manually change the field if needed.  On both forms, the DA Routing fields are located in the "Plaintiff" section of the form.

2. Once in ISSUED status, if the ELCI was issued from a Mobile computer, the ELCI must be End Shifted into the Office computer as soon as possible, typically at end of shift.  If the ELCI was completed and issued in the office on a TraCS Office computer, it is already in the TraCS Office Database, ready for transmission.

3. ELCIs and MUNIs in issued status should be reviewed/approved per local policy, and then transmitted; using a TraCS transmission method that insures the DA office receives the eCitation in a timely manner.  As mentioned above, in general, that means less than 24 hours from the time of the incident, and before the paperwork arrives in the DA office.

This also applies to any non-criminal eCitations associated with a criminal incident that your DA wishes to receive.  Routing non-criminal eCitations to the DA office is something that should be discussed and decided between the referring LEA, the DA and the Clerk of Circuit Court, as each county may have their own thoughts on how this should be handled.

If a DA office informs you that they will not be prosecuting the criminal charge, DMV needs to be notified that the traffic citation is being withdrawn.  Either the DA office or the LEA can report voided or withdrawn citations directly to the Department of Transportation, at DOTDMVEARS@dot.wi.gov.