GRAND FORKS (AP) - People who want to know when a Grand Forks County inmate is released, is transferred or escapes now have a quick way to find out.

The county has an automated alert system that sends an e-mail or persistently calls those who have registered to get news about a certain inmate.

"As a correctional facility, we do our best to always notify the victim when somebody's going to be released. But we cannot continue to hold them (prisoners) just because we cannot get hold of a victim," jail administrator Brett Burkholder said "It's a system like this that's an additional resource," he said.

Victims already receive phone calls and letters from staff members when specific inmates are released. The new system - known as SAVIN, or Statewide Automated Victim Information and Notification Service - streamlines the process, said Amy Vorachek, who manages the program for North Dakota.

The system will keep calling a victim for up to 24 hours until that person dials a four-digit personal identification number. In more urgent situations, the system will call for up to 48 hours.

SAVIN users also can call 866-631-8463 or visit www.vinelink.com to find out if someone is behind bars.

"This is really a service that if a victim has anxiety or somebody has anxiety, they can really go online or they can call this number and get the information that they desperately need and put their mind to rest," Vorachek said.

The service is free, confidential, operates round the clock and allows people to register several e-mails and phone numbers to receive information about multiple inmates, she said.

The Grand Forks County Correctional Center is among a handful of jails in North Dakota that have launched SAVIN. The others are in Barnes, Mercer and Richland counties and in Rugby, Vorachek said.

The state Corrections Department, including the State Penitentiary and the Parole and Probation Division, is scheduled to start using SAVIN by the end of April, she said. The system should be in use statewide in October, encompassing protective orders and sex offender notices, she said.