Cranberry supervisors have voiced support for a regional booking center at the township's police headquarters, saying they don't believe officers will be asked to devote too much time to tasks outside their scope of responsibility.

At the recommendation of Public Safety Director Steve Mannell, supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to tell Butler County commissioners that Cranberry is on board with the program.

The question now is whether the commissioners will approve the concept.

County commissioners were presented with a plan by Deputy Court Administrator Mike Noyes on Feb. 15 for two regional booking centers and a new $100 fee that would be charged to defendants to cover the annual $18,000 cost of operating and maintaining the centers.

In exchange, the county would receive a state grant of about $215,000 to buy two high-tech machines to replace ink-and-blotter fingerprinting and two scanners that take mug shots of defendants or use digital computer technology to produce drawings of suspects. The machines would be placed in Cranberry and in Butler, initially at the Butler City police station and then at the new Butler County Jail, which is being built. The county would pay a $37,600 match for the $215,000 grant. President Judge Thomas Doerr has said he would use court money to cover the match.

The commissioners tabled a vote on the program because Dr. Noyes was unable to answer some questions: How much money would be raised from the new $100 booking fee? Who would be fingerprinted? Would people booked by the state police at Butler have to pay the fee, since state police have their own scanning equipment and wouldn't be using the county equipment? Is there municipal support for the idea? Would police from outlying municipalities have to make frequent trips to Cranberry or Butler for fingerprinting?

Mr. Mannell told township supervisors he believes the equipment that would be at his department's headquarters would outweigh any inconvenience his officers would face in being pulled off the streets occasionally for fingerprinting detail.

He said he has reviewed the grant application and has consulted with several county officials and he believes the inconvenience will be minimal because most of those who will be processed with the new equipment will do so by appointment.

Contrary to Dr. Noyes' presentation a week earlier, Mr. Mannell said only those who are charged with misdemeanors and felonies will be fingerprinted, except for those charged with summary retail theft since, under the state crimes code, retail theft charges automatically become misdemeanor offenses at the second offense.

Mr. Mannell also pointed out that the majority of those who are fingerprinted now do so at their own convenience upon order from a district judge and that police officers escort only those who are arrested on a serious charge at the time of an incident. He acknowledged that, in such a case, a Cranberry officer likely would have to be pulled off street duty if the crime occurs after business hours. During business hours, police department staff would be available to allow admittance to township offices. After hours, police would have to be called in to open the doors for arresting officers from outside the township.

Dr. Noyes had told commissioners that all people accused of summary offenses also would be fingerprinted, a notion that would have entailed fingerprinting hundreds of additional defendants annually. County commissioners also didn't realize that fingerprints aren't taken immediately upon arrest, since most people are charged by mailed summons.

Mr. Mannell said the matter appears to be a simple misunderstanding that he hopes will be cleared up when county commissioners deal with the matter again. The commissioners' next meeting will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the downtown Butler Government Center.