Snellville police requesting search and arrest warrants don't have to leave the office to get face time with a judge.

A new computer program launched in the city's police department gives officers virtual conferences with judges. Police can submit their warrant applications online through the Electronic Warrant Interface system without having to travel to the Gwinnett County Detention Center to fill out a stack of paperwork.

Drop down menus allow the officers to pick from a list of crimes instead of having to rewrite the offenses over and over on multiple forms. Once the online forms are complete, police then come face to face with a magistrate on a video screen and are sworn in so they can discuss the application.

"When all of that is done you have warrant in hand," said police lieutenant T. Taylor Wednesday. It prints out on a printer.

Police said the electronic warrant process only takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete.

"It is a tremendous time saver for our officers," said Snellville Police Chief Roy Whitehead.

Before the change, applying for a warrant could take as much as two hours because of the paper work and travel time to Lawrenceville involved, police said.

"If there were officers there prior to their arrival they had to wait their turn or wait on a judge," Taylor said.

The new technology will give Snellville an edge as the county makes advances in its criminal justice computer systems, said Gwinnett County Court's Chief Magistrate George F. Hutchinson III.

"The county is moving in the direction of creating a criminal justice information system," Hutchinson said. "Having Snellville on the cutting edge of that places it in a good position."

Snellville is the first city in Gwinnett to implement the system. The Gwinnett County police department subsequently installed the system, Whitehead said.

The upgrade didn't cost the citizens of Snellville one dime. About $5,500 in confiscated funds from illegal drug sales covered the bill for the new software.

"The good news for the people of Snellville is the drug dealers paid for it," Whitehead said.