Having someone track your every move, 24 hours a day, with a GPS device may seem a bit Orwellian. But compared to a stint in the Utah County Jail, it may be a pleasant alternative.

Secure Alert has been marketing the TrackerPAL since 2005, and is currently tracking about 3,500 offenders across the United States. About 56 of those offenders are in Utah County, though there have been as many as 100 at one time in the 18 months the Utah County Sheriff's Office has been using the devices.

From their monitoring room at the company's headquarters in Sandy, Secure Alert employees track offenders' movements on computer screens. The technology shows them where offenders are, how long they have been there and whether they are in an "exclusion zone." Someone who is on probation for drunken driving, for example, may not be allowed to go into a bar, while sex offenders often must stay clear of parks and schools.

With TrackerPAL, Secure Alert's monitors can see if offenders violate conditions of their probation and transmit the information to the appropriate law-enforcement agency. Secure Alert president John Hastings III said the device provides an "electronic fence."

"It may be free from prison, but it's not free from incarceration," he said.

In Utah County, TrackerPAL is a sentence handed down by judges that finds the halfway point between jail and probation. Offenders must meet certain criteria to be eligible, said Sgt. JoAnn Murphy, who oversees the sheriff's office's GPS program. Violent offenders, for example, are not eligible.

But some offenders do not really belong in prison and are better served by staying in the outside world, Murphy said. Most of Utah County's offenders who have a TrackerPAL affixed to their ankles were convicted of drug or alcohol offenses.

Murphy said the electronic monitoring program helps criminals rehabilitate themselves. Nearly 80 percent of Utah County offenders who are sentenced to electronic monitoring are able to successfully complete the program, she said.

"They're going to work every day. The citizens are not paying to house that inmate, yet they're able to still get their lives back on track. I think that's the biggest benefit," Murphy said.

Offenders must pay for the privilege of staying out of jail. Previously, the program cost them two hours of wages per day, regardless of how much they make. But on Tuesday, the Utah County Commission voted to lower the fee to one hour of wages or $10 a day, whichever is greater.

"One of our concerns is making sure that inmate is not so strapped with the cost of trying to pay fees that he's not able to succeed," Murphy said.

Hastings said TrackerPAL can be used to ensure that offenders are in school, at work or at drug treatment facilities, or that they are abiding by the terms of their house arrest. When offenders are in their homes, a radio frequency device electronically tethers them to within a certain radius. They can even be programmed to permit offenders to certain levels of their own apartment buildings.

If an offender enters a prohibited area -- for example, if a man convicted of domestic violence comes within a certain radius of his ex-wife's home or work -- Secure Alert employees can contact them and let them know that they are violating terms of their probation or parole, and contact police and inform them of the offender's whereabouts. They can also contact the offender's probation or parole officer for a three-way call.

"Essentially it's that angel on your shoulder saying, 'Are you really sure you want to risk going to jail?' " said Christopher Anderson, Secure Alert's sales director.

The device also allows offenders to contact the company. If an offender wants to know whether something will violate the terms of his probation, he can contact the company and find out.

An offender in Tennessee had a heart attack but did not have a cell phone to call 911 with, so he contacted Secure Alert instead, Hastings said. Another offender was having trouble getting through airport security because of his TrackerPAL -- authorities were unconvinced that he was allowed to fly -- so he contacted the monitoring center so Secure Alert employees could explain that he had permission to travel.

The TrackerPAL offers an obvious benefit to offenders by keeping them out of jail, but law-enforcement agencies may gain from it as well. The program helps ease overcrowding in jails and prisons and costs significantly less.

Hastings said it costs $49-$178 to keep an inmate in jail for a day, depending on circumstances. But it costs no more than $25 a day, and sometimes as little as $4.50, to have Secure Alert monitor that offender instead.

And if being at home instead of behind bars helps rehabilitate an offender, then the benefits are spread out among offenders, the legal system and society as a whole.

"I think it is a fantastic program. I think it's one of those that is really looking at rehabilitation, transitioning these people back into the community, and doing it in a way that they can be successful," Murphy said.

• Jeremy Duda can be reached at 344-2561 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it