Fingerprints in ink soon will come one step closer to becoming obsolete in the world of law enforcement.

A rule, new to the Butler County courts beginning Oct. 5, mandates defendants facing felony or misdemeanor charges — who have not been fingerprinted by the time of their preliminary hearing — report to a Butler County regional booking center for an electronic scan of their fingerprints "forthwith."

Defendants, by an already existing rule, are supposed to be fingerprinted within 48 hours of arrest. However, many don't do that.

People who are incarcerated immediately upon their arrest are fingerprinted by computer at the jail. And some defendants are fingerprinted by computer or ink-and-card by the arresting police department.

But many defendants receive paperwork in the mail, including an instruction to get fingerprinted. A good portion of those people simply don't understand their obligation.

Tom Holman, county court deputy administrator, said this new rule will make it a condition of bail at the time of a preliminary hearing that defendants report to one of the county's four regional booking centers for electronic fingerprinting.

Holman said the electronic system gets fingerprints into a searchable computer database more quickly than the ink and card system.

"We have immediate identification of people whose identity is not certain," he said.

Holman said court officials anticipate that within the next year, the state will make the ink and card system obsolete. This new rule should help the county stay ahead of the curve.

Additionally, court officials already have focused on reducing the number of defendants who make it in and out of the system without ever being fingerprinted.

Currently, 72.6 percent of defendants who should be fingerprinted complete the process. Holman said that is up from 60 percent the year before.

"And we want this done before they get to the courthouse," Holman said.

Booking centers are at the Cranberry Township Police station, the Butler County Adult Probation office, the county prison, and the state police barracks in Butler.

Each defendant electronically fingerprinted is assessed a $100 fee. Holman said income generated by the fee, by law, must be used to maintain the regional booking centers.