License Suspension Doesn't Prevent DWI Convicts from Driving
By: Adam Rodriguez, KARK 4 News
Updated: July 31, 2012
The Pulaski County District Courthouse is a busy place with people constantly coming and going.
On any given afternoon, District Judge Wayne Gruber will see 100 people on dozens of charges, including speeding, drug possession and DWI.
"We do have a high volume of cases in this court," Judge Gruber says. "We have hundreds of cases a year, thousands that come through."
Some people found guilty of DWI and sentenced shouldn't be driving, but they are anyway.
"Well, you shouldn't... They shouldn't do that," says Judge Gruber.
With all that traffic at the courthouse, Gruber says there's no way they can watch everyone to see who's driving and who's not:
"I don't have the staff, nor would it be appropriate for my personnel to simply wait in the driveway, or court parking lot, and arrest people as they depart the court."
State finance and administration lawyer Paul Gehring says the courts have characterized driver's licenses as a privilege and not a right, and that by Arkansas law, everyone arrested for DWI automatically loses their driving privileges for six months, but there are other options:
"There are options for a person who has been arrested, to have their driving privileges reinstated on a temporary basis, pending a resolution of the suspension of their driving privileges," Gehring says.
If a person charges with drunken driving is found not guilty, their privileges are immediately restored.
But what about the ones who are convicted of DWI and drive off anyway?
"It wouldn't be appropriate to make sure there were folks standing guard by the exits, making sure every decision rendered by this court is strictly enforced," says Judge Gruber.
With so many people tied up in the courts, it's easy to get lost in the crowd.
But one thing we know for sure, some of them who are convicted of DWI are still out there driving.
On any given afternoon, District Judge Wayne Gruber will see 100 people on dozens of charges, including speeding, drug possession and DWI.
"We do have a high volume of cases in this court," Judge Gruber says. "We have hundreds of cases a year, thousands that come through."
Some people found guilty of DWI and sentenced shouldn't be driving, but they are anyway.
"Well, you shouldn't... They shouldn't do that," says Judge Gruber.
With all that traffic at the courthouse, Gruber says there's no way they can watch everyone to see who's driving and who's not:
"I don't have the staff, nor would it be appropriate for my personnel to simply wait in the driveway, or court parking lot, and arrest people as they depart the court."
State finance and administration lawyer Paul Gehring says the courts have characterized driver's licenses as a privilege and not a right, and that by Arkansas law, everyone arrested for DWI automatically loses their driving privileges for six months, but there are other options:
"There are options for a person who has been arrested, to have their driving privileges reinstated on a temporary basis, pending a resolution of the suspension of their driving privileges," Gehring says.
If a person charges with drunken driving is found not guilty, their privileges are immediately restored.
But what about the ones who are convicted of DWI and drive off anyway?
"It wouldn't be appropriate to make sure there were folks standing guard by the exits, making sure every decision rendered by this court is strictly enforced," says Judge Gruber.
With so many people tied up in the courts, it's easy to get lost in the crowd.
But one thing we know for sure, some of them who are convicted of DWI are still out there driving.
