Traffic Safety Board to review procedures for spending DWI funds
PLYMOUTH – The procedures for spending approximately $120,000 in revenues collected annually from Chenango County’s drunk driving convictions will be changed, according to Board of Supervisors Chairman Richard B. Decker, R-N. Norwich.
The board chairman met recently with a New York State Division of Motor Vehicles Traffic Safety Committee representative to review local complaints lodged in January that the funds were being used inappropriately.
Among other discrepancies, Town of Plymouth Supervisor Jerry L. Kreiner and other local town justices charged that Stop DWI funds were being used to reward repeat offenders who graduated from the Chenango County Drug Treatment Court, for fireworks displays, for Traffic Safety Board restaurant lunches, and without adequate reporting.
“The fireworks and watches for graduates, that’ll stop,” said Decker. “Stop DWI money won’t work to support these activities because they are not 100 percent drunk driver-related. Not all of the drug court graduates are DWI repeat offenders, though 80 percent of them are.”
Decker also said the traffic court would be revisiting its procedures, issuing more timely reports about spending, and forego sponsoring an annual lunch.
Town of Plymouth Justice Paul O’Connor, who attended the meeting with Decker, said he was “absolutely satisfied” that the program can operate in a manner that is fair and equitable to all aspects of the Stop DWI program, including enforcement, prosecution, adjudication and education.
“The chairman honestly wants to make it work for the best of all four of those parts of the program,” he said.
O’Connor and Supervisor Kreiner said the county’s Traffic Safety Court should be precluded from holding meetings off government grounds and for voting on what organization would receive funds. Stop DWI revenues have been used to afford patrol cars for the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Norwich and other municipalities, as well as a camera for the New York State Police.
Plymouth’s request in August 2008 for $800 to help afford a software maintenance program for a justice court tracking system was denied. Decker said not all justice’s activities are DWI related, and the maintenance program wouldn’t apply. O’Connor said he hoped the state would eventually find some of the drunk driving money taken in applicable.
All but four towns in the county have the New York State CourtRoom electronic tracking system. It is a support program that prevents court cases from falling through the cracks. O’Connor said it was invaluable for tracking what offenders owe.
“The courts are responsible for collecting those fees and fines. People can’t afford to pay in one lump sum the money they owe. ... If the court doesn’t have the program that accurately tracks who owes what - accounts for funds - the money would not be coming back to Chenango County,” he said.
The board chairman met recently with a New York State Division of Motor Vehicles Traffic Safety Committee representative to review local complaints lodged in January that the funds were being used inappropriately.
Among other discrepancies, Town of Plymouth Supervisor Jerry L. Kreiner and other local town justices charged that Stop DWI funds were being used to reward repeat offenders who graduated from the Chenango County Drug Treatment Court, for fireworks displays, for Traffic Safety Board restaurant lunches, and without adequate reporting.
“The fireworks and watches for graduates, that’ll stop,” said Decker. “Stop DWI money won’t work to support these activities because they are not 100 percent drunk driver-related. Not all of the drug court graduates are DWI repeat offenders, though 80 percent of them are.”
Decker also said the traffic court would be revisiting its procedures, issuing more timely reports about spending, and forego sponsoring an annual lunch.
Town of Plymouth Justice Paul O’Connor, who attended the meeting with Decker, said he was “absolutely satisfied” that the program can operate in a manner that is fair and equitable to all aspects of the Stop DWI program, including enforcement, prosecution, adjudication and education.
“The chairman honestly wants to make it work for the best of all four of those parts of the program,” he said.
O’Connor and Supervisor Kreiner said the county’s Traffic Safety Court should be precluded from holding meetings off government grounds and for voting on what organization would receive funds. Stop DWI revenues have been used to afford patrol cars for the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Norwich and other municipalities, as well as a camera for the New York State Police.
Plymouth’s request in August 2008 for $800 to help afford a software maintenance program for a justice court tracking system was denied. Decker said not all justice’s activities are DWI related, and the maintenance program wouldn’t apply. O’Connor said he hoped the state would eventually find some of the drunk driving money taken in applicable.
All but four towns in the county have the New York State CourtRoom electronic tracking system. It is a support program that prevents court cases from falling through the cracks. O’Connor said it was invaluable for tracking what offenders owe.
“The courts are responsible for collecting those fees and fines. People can’t afford to pay in one lump sum the money they owe. ... If the court doesn’t have the program that accurately tracks who owes what - accounts for funds - the money would not be coming back to Chenango County,” he said.
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