Monday, March 06, 2006

SC Administrative Judges dismiss hundreds of DUI cases

According the The State:

From Jan. 1 through Wednesday, S.C. Administrative Law Court hearing officers dismissed 421 cases statewide--nearly 70 percent of the 602 cases they heard--making it easier for those drivers to get back behind the wheel.

And while the dismissal rate for all of 2005 also was high--60 percent--the difference this year is that in the vast majority of the dismissed cases, the investigating police officers didn't show up for the administrative hearings because they weren't notified.

Police officers haven't been notified because the court and the state Department of Motor Vehicles can't agree who has that responsibility. A state law that went into effect Jan. 1 transferred oversight of the hearing officers from the department to the court.

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