It recently came to my attention that the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Department of Court Records has failed to provide notice to PennDOT of nearly 20,000 license suspensions as far back as 2010. Almost 2,000 of these suspensions are DUI related.

These failures that had gone unnoticed for years were uncovered through a recent audit, and the county has recently begun to notify PennDOT of these violations. Once PennDOT receives this notification they can begin the suspension process. Unfortunately, there is no mechanism in law that requires license suspensions to be served within a specific time frame.

License suspensions are intended to protect public safety by restricting driving privileges during the period immediately following a conviction, when a defendant’s risk level is at its highest and the deterrent effect is most meaningful. For first offender DUI programs which allow for an expungement of DUI convictions, the only way to ensure that individual doesn’t participate in the first offender program twice is to check their PennDOT history for any driving suspensions. Because these suspensions were not issued in any fashion even close to timely, many of these individuals could have received the benefit of a first offender program more than once.

Further, the individuals receiving long overdue license suspensions are left with little option all these years later than to completely disrupt their lives jeopardizing jobs, wages, and the stability many of these individuals worked hard to achieve.

Accordingly, I intend to introduce the following bill and resolution in the near future to ensure justice is served in a timely manner in the future.