County to trial wrist-style monitors for juveniles; commissioners approve running both vendors for evaluation

Matt Olson, director of Bannock County Juvenile Justice, told the commissioners April 21 that staff plan to trial monitors from Talat Rex alongside the county's existing GPS ankle units to evaluate service, costs, and user impact.

Olson said the Talat Rex device is worn on the wrist and "looks more like a watch," which he described as "less stigmatizing" than ankle monitors. He told the board the Talat Rex proposal in the briefing covered a fixed block (790 days) at $4,029 for the remainder of the contract term; by contrast, the county's daily-use vendor charges roughly $5.10–$5.75 per day and has higher replacement costs when devices are lost or damaged. Olson said replacement for the current ankle unit is about $900 while the Talat Rex wrist unit costs about $325 to replace.

Olson recommended keeping both vendors operational through the end of the fiscal year to test reliability, service communications, and day-to-day operations before selecting a long-term vendor. Commissioners asked about reliability and testing; Olson said staff had used a demo device for two days and planned internal evaluation.

Commissioner Wilson said if the budget permits, he favored trying the new technology. The board moved to proceed as presented—operating both companies concurrently while evaluating outcomes.

The county will monitor costs, replacement incidents, and vendor responsiveness during the trial and report back to the commission as part of routine Juvenile Justice updates.