see also: in August 2007 News Releases:   Border Patrol Agents Seize Drugs at California Checkpoint   Palm Beach, Fla. Welcomes New Tool in Fighting Terror Weapons   Drug Seizure Activity at Border Ports Remains Brisk; El Paso CBP Nabs More Than 2 Tons of Pot   Yuma Border Agents Help Local Police Track 3 Fleeing Burglary Scene   CBP Officers at Laredo, Texas Entry Seize Almost $6 Million in Drugs in Two Seizures   Suspected Smuggling Lookouts Captured in Desert   1st Director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Northwest Retires ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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Yuma, Ariz. — U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Del Rio Border Patrol sector partnered with the U.S. Courts, Western District of Texas, establishing the first truly Electronic-Filing of criminal cases in U.S. District Court. Although some locations have filed cases with the courts using an e-mail-like procedure, the E-File procedure implemented in Del Rio is a true data exchange between the U.S. Border Patrol and the U.S. Courts. The new procedure exponentially increases efficiency by eliminating redundant data input, minimizing human error, and significantly reducing filing time over traditional case filing procedures.

Using the new E-File procedures, Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents prepare and review criminal cases and simply push a button to submit the cases to the U.S. Courts computer system. Once the agent arrives at the U.S. Magistrates Office to swear the complaints, the Judge pulls the complaints up on his computer to review them. Both the judge and the agent enter their PIN number into the secure system to apply an electronic signature to all documents. Once verified, the legal documents are automatically routed electronically to the Clerk’s Office where they are assigned cause numbers, placed on the docket, and processed for court. With the high numbers of Border Patrol criminal cases filed in Del Rio, this E-File procedure has literally transformed hours of work into minutes or maybe even seconds.

As criminal cases progress through the legal system, the U.S. Courts send electronic data back to the U.S. Border Patrol Prosecution Office. The electronic court data provides for more effective case tracking and more accurate case dispositions of Border Patrol cases, minimizing the burden associated with large numbers of prosecution cases.

Although the E-File procedure is currently only between the Del Rio Sector Border Patrol and the Del Rio division of the U.S. Courts (Western District), expansion to other agencies and other court locations is already being planned for the near future.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation’s borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.