CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. – The VINE victimnotification service connected to the Cibola County Detention Center remained unavailable Tuesday, Aug. 11, as county officials said an ongoing technical problem involving device manufacturer Equifax continues to prevent the system from communicating properly with detention center records.
Cibola County Manager Kate Fletcher provided an updated explanation Tuesday afternoon after speaking with county detention staff and reviewing correspondence related to the outage.
Fletcher said Equifax, which manages the VINE system used by the county, is working to resolve the problem.
According to information Fletcher read from correspondence during an interview with the Citizen, the problem arose after a vendor or agency upgraded its computer system, creating a compatibility issue with VINE. Resolving the outage now requires work by an interface team as well as the installation of necessary computer drivers.
Fletcher said the problem has also been complicated by employee turnover involving the vendor.
“Equifax is working diligently,” Fletcher said, reading from the correspondence.
The Cibola Citizen checked the VINE system Tuesday and found the service connected to the Cibola County Detention Center remained unavailable.
VINE, or Victim Information and Notification Everyday, is an automated service that allows crime victims and members of the public to receive information about changes in an offender’s custody status, including releases and transfers.
The outage has persisted for several weeks.
In a July 13 response to concerns raised by Cibola County resident Harry Hall, Fletcher said county staff had been working with CoreCivic personnel and VINE Data Operations to restore the service. Core-Civic operates the Cibola County Detention Center under contract with the county.
At the time, Fletcher said a network connectivity problem had been identified and a replacement router shipped to Core-Civic. Additional troubleshooting was required after the replacement equipment failed to establish communication.
Fletcher later told the Citizen that additional hardware needed for the repair had been delayed or lost during shipping and had to be reordered. That equipment was eventually received, but additional technical work remained necessary.
Tuesday’s update provided additional detail about the continuing problem, with Fletcher saying the remaining work involves the interface between the systems and installation of computer drivers.
State Rep. Martha Garcia, D-Grants, whose House District 6 includes western Cibola County and the Village of Milan, where the detention center is located, also acknowledged the continuing problem in an Aug. 5 email to Hall.
“The work is still in process and it will eventually be fixed,” Garcia wrote. “It’s a technology issue and it’s costly but the software is in the set up stage.”
Hall has repeatedly contacted county officials, state lawmakers and news organizations about the outage, arguing that crime victims and residents need reliable access to custody information.
The issue has also drawn concern from MaryEllen Garcia, chief executive officer of the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, who said in July that an interruption to victimnotification services could affect survivors of intimate partner violence.
Fletcher told the Citizen Tuesday that she was not aware of any reports from local residents or crime victims indicating the outage had caused a problem with an individual notification or resulted in a victim being adversely affected.
County officials have maintained that staff are regularly following up with the companies and personnel involved and are continuing to push for restoration of the service.
As of Tuesday afternoon, however, VINE service for the Cibola County Detention Center remained unavailable. Fletcher did not provide a firm date for when the system is expected to return to service.
Residents and crime victims who rely on VINE for custody notifications should verify custody information directly with the appropriate authorities until the service is restored.