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Guilford County Looks At Ways To Reduce DWI Cases Backlog

Law enforcement officials in Guilford County are cracking down on impaired driving. Credit: diegoparra via pixabay

Guilford County officials are trying to figure out how to reduce a backlog of thousands of DWI cases. They hope the creation of a special court will help address the problem.

The backlog of DWI, or driving while intoxicated cases in Guilford County is growing. As of Nov. 10, Guilford had the second highest number of DWI pending cases in the state with more than 4,100. Wake County had the highest, with more than 4,300 cases.

The News and Record reports that there are three factors most responsible for the backlog in Guilford County — an active DWI task force, the time it takes to get blood work back from the labs and a massive daily court docket.

And that's overwhelming traffic court. Local officials say the average age of the cases is 19 months.

But the county has a plan to hear them more quickly. Several agencies and community members are working together to provide additional staff and resources for a special court.

Guilford County will hold DWI court for six months, five days a week. That's expected to start in early January.

*Follow WFDD's Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news

 

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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