Lawmaker wants law-enforcement database updated more often

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Missouri's law-enforcement database should be updated within 24 hours after an outstanding warrant has been resolved to avoid unnecessary arrests, a state lawmaker who filed a bill establishing that requirement said.

Rep. Chuck Basye, a Rocheport Republican, filed the bill after a constituent, Jim Wharton, approached him about the arrest of his wife.

The incident happened last January after the Whartons' van collided with another vehicle in a snow-slickened Wal-Mart parking lot. The crash totaled the van and bruised Anne Wharton's ribs, the Columbia Daily Tribune reported. Then things got worse for the couple.

"The officer said, 'I've got some bad news for you, Mrs. Wharton. There is a warrant for your arrest,'" Jim Wharton recalled.

The Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System, or MULES, is a database that tallies arrests, convictions, charges and warrants. On that day, it showed an active warrant from Fulton, Missouri, for failure to appear in court.

Anne Wharton, who missed a court date in September 2014 for a ticket for expired registration, paid the ticket in person after receiving notice of the warrant in the mail.

As an officer loaded Anne Wharton into his car for a ride to the Boone County Jail, there was no way for her husband to verify with the Fulton Municipal Court the warrant had been recalled seven weeks earlier.

"They handcuffed me and left me in the car with my hands behind my back and no way to get comfortable," the 59-year-old grandmother said Friday. "It was very humiliating. The whole thing was awful."

City spokesman Darin Wernig said an error meant the recalled warrant wasn't reflected in the system. He said a new system is in place to confirm the receipt of such updates.

Jim Wharton said he went home but couldn't find the receipt to show the ticket was paid, so he paid the $82.50 again, plus a $6 credit card fee, to get his wife out of jail after midnight.

Frustrated, Jim Wharton went to Basye.

"They are not asking for anyone to get in trouble, but only for it to be fixed," Basye said.

Basye's proposal covers warrants issued for moving violations and other motor vehicle offenses. Anyone who suffers a loss because of faulty warrant information could recover lost wages, court fines and other costs from an agency that fails to comply. The agency also could be fined up to $500.

Basye said he wants quick updating, but he doesn't want to put an undue burden on agencies involved.

"I understand what a fine line there is to walk here," he said.