December 25, 2010, was spent in a Marathon County, Wisconsin, jail cell by a woman who was wrongfully arrested on a warrant that was no longer in force. The mistake cost the county $50,000 and cancelled Christmas for the woman and her children, but it ultimately helped lead to a first-in-the-state software solution now eliminating false warrant arrests for this county of 135,000 in Wisconsin’s heartland.

False warrant arrests are the bane of law enforcement as they usually originate with improperly filed paperwork and result in costs that can ultimately reach far beyond seven figures and ruined holidays. Marathon County saw an average of 12 or more such mistakes per year, leading to four lawsuits over the past decade.