Belated driver’s license suspension an ‘awful thing’ to one York County driver

Aug. 09--Codi Enders was pulled over for having a blinker light out on her car when she was just a couple weeks out from her 21st birthday. She was charged with driving under the influence because, she said, she was drinking underage.

Years later, she was charged with being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

She also was charged with possession of marijuana because, she said, police found a little bit of marijuana and paraphernalia in her purse.

She was convicted on all of those charges. The last one came in 2009, and the now-32-year-old woman had spent 18 months with a suspended license and was down roughly $6,000 in attorney fees. She said she won't even move her car to the other side of the street if she has had a glass of wine because she doesn't want more trouble in her life.

The pastry chef went to the beach last weekend for a vacation and arrived home Monday to a letter from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

"At first I thought it was the registration for my new car," she said.

But it wasn't. She received a letter telling her that because of her drug-related conviction, she will have her license suspended -- again -- for six months.

She was incensed when she discovered that was happening to thousands of people in the county well after their convictions, and after they had served suspensions and paid their criminal penalties.

But there should have been a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation penalty, as well -- a driver's license suspension. County clerks of court are required to report drug-related convictions to PennDOT. York County's office, however, failed to report thousands of convictions. Now, County Clerk Don O'Shell has told his staff to go through its records dating back to when he took office in 2004 and fix the error. That means people like Enders are receiving license suspensions for convictions that are, in many cases, years old.

Enders has a good, stable career and has her health and renter's insurance back and to normal premium levels. She bought a new car. Now, she can't drive that car and she doesn't know how this license suspension will affect her insurance premiums.

"It's an awful thing to feel like you've grown up and moved forward but then you get pushed ten feet back," she said. "I'm so passionate about this. I'm trying so hard not to bitter. I paid my fines on time, never had issues, never got in trouble. I understand that we screwed up in the beginning but this was five years ago. Half a decade ago."

Filing an appeal

The first thing she did was find out how to appeal. A lawyer quoted her $1,290 and the cost of filing, which was way too high. Another quoted her fees starting at $500 and rising from there. Filing an appeal herself without representation would cost her $208. None felt like a good option.

O'Shell believes around 5,000 people could receive a suspension when his office is done with its survey of delinquent filings. Thousands have already been notified, and many of them, local courts expect, will appeal.

York County President Judge Stephen Linebaugh said that he has historically capped the number of license suspension appeals heard in a single day at 25. Not only does he expect appeals to increase so much that he's willing to raise that daily cap to 30, but he's also scheduled three additional hearing dates.

License suspension appeal dates are set into the court calendar ahead of the calendar year. A date was scheduled once per month throughout 2014 but excluded the months of May, July and December. The additional three dates will allow for a total of 12 appeal dates this year, with seven remaining.

Linebaugh added a date in October, one in November and one in December.

Who is accountable?

"Errors happen. Mistakes happen," Linebaugh said of the county clerk's office's mistake. "Every time there is an innocent mistake, there is not a reason to hold someone accountable."

O'Shell acknowledged that he answers to the public.

"When you're elected, you're always mindful of the ramifications of your decisions and actions because of how it may affect you at the polls, but you still have to make decisions that are right," O'Shell said.

O'Shell said that the instances of failing to report the convictions to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation become more prevalent as the search gets closer to 2004, the year he took office.

"It was kind of a legacy issue that I inherited and should have noticed but I did not. That was my shortfall," he said. "I'm addressing it now."

But addressing it isn't making those affected very happy. O'Shell said that one such person told him he "planned to spend the next six months on his computer making my life miserable. And that's his right."

President Judge Stephen Linebaugh added three new dates to appeal license suspensions this year. The remaining dates this year are:

1. Aug. 20

2. Sept. 17

3. Oct. 25

4. Oct. 30 (new)

5. Nov. 5 (new)

6. Nov. 19

7. Dec. 10 (new)

The hearings take place in the courtroom on the second floor of the York County Administrative Center beginning at 9 a.m.

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