LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky's victim notification system went temporarily offline after sending false alerts to crime victims earlier this week, according to an announcement from the Kentucky Justice & Public Safety Cabinet.

The Kentucky Department of Corrections said it is aware of a "vendor-caused issue" with the Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) system that sent false alerts indicating some inmates were released from state custody. Any release notifications received on Tuesday, Feb. 3, should be disregarded.

The Kentucky DOC said the information is incorrect and should be disregarded, and no personal data or information was compromised. The VINE system remains offline, and notifications won't be sent until the problems are fixed.

The DOC hopes to have VINE restored by the end of day Thursday and will send affected users a notification once the system is online. During the outage, victim advocates will contact victims by phone for any inmate scheduled to be released during this time.

VINE is a free automated notification system that alerts victims and concerned citizens about a change in custody of an offender, gathering information from jail booking systems, prisons and mental health facilities. Kentucky is the first state in the nation to provide an automated, statewide victims notification system, with critical information available about inmates housed in local jails and adult correctional facilities as well as certain juvenile offenders.

VINE was born out of tragedy: the Louisville murder of Mary Byron on her 21st birthday in 1993, when Mary was killed by an estranged boyfriend who she thought was still in jail on charges of raping, assaulting and stalking her, after her family's request to be notified of his release did not happen.

Victims who have registered with the system can be notified of inmate releases, transfers, escapes and parole eligibility through phone calls, emails and text messages. The system received more than 100,000 new registrations last year, according to the Department of Corrections.