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Expanding electronic monitoring of criminals in North Dakota would give law enforcement another option, but would not solve prison crowding problems by itself, officials say.

Some North Dakota lawmakers also wonder if local governments might end up paying the bill for monitoring ordered by courts without their consent.

"I don't think Department of Corrections is going to absorb all of those expenses," said Sen. Stan Lyson, R-Williston, who is a retired Williams County sheriff. Electronic monitoring, he said, is a potential "mandate to the counties."

North Dakota's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation already uses Global Positioning System monitoring to keep track of high-risk sex offenders.

A bill under consideration in the state Senate would expand the option to other jurisdictions and other types of offenders, including county jail inmates.

Both the state and counties could use electronic monitoring instead of locking up people who are convicted of crimes. It could also be used to monitor former inmates on parole or probation.

The measure got its first legislative hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

"It's not going to be something that's going to solve the whole problem," said Rep. Joe Kroeber, D-Jamestown. "But it's certainly going to be one of the pieces of the puzzle."

Kroeber served as chairman of an interim legislative commission that studied alternatives to putting criminals behind bars. Warren Emmer, director of the state corrections agency's field services division, said GPS electronic monitoring is useful to authorities, but it is not a panacea.

"This shouldn't be seen as a cost-saving matter, in my opinion," Emmer said during Tuesday's committee hearing. "It should be seen as a corrections strategy."

He said electronic monitoring also does not necessarily save law enforcement time.

"We can't expect this system to replace the … human element," Emmer said. "You always have to have a human piece to the puzzle."

If the electronic monitoring program is greatly expanded, Emmer said, he is not sure the corrections department would have enough personnel to do proper supervision.

Lyson said he worried about whether counties and cities would have to shoulder much of the cost of monitoring misdemeanor offenders.

Emmer said GPS electronic monitoring would be a choice for counties, not a requirement. "We're not trying to mandate its use to anyone," he said.

Rep. Lawrence Klemin, R-Bismarck, who served on the Commission on Alternatives to Incarceration, also said there is no intent to require that counties use electronic monitoring. The bill's goal is to relieve overcrowding at the main state prison in Bismarck, he said.

The bill would cost an estimated $360,525 over two years. Offenders on the system might be required to pay fees. Right now, high-risk sex offenders who are being monitored must pay $10 daily, Emmer said.