COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, PA
Driving Under The Influence Program

The Driving Under the Influence Program (DUI) has been operational within Northampton County since 1984. It was originally established in response to the adoption of a new State law, which was intended to deal more efficiently with motorists who drink and drive. The program offices are located on the eastern side of the Northampton County Government complex, within the Criminal Administration Building, which also houses the departments of Adult Probation and Pretrial Services. The DUI Program employs nine (9) full time persons consisting of the Director, five (5) probation officers and three (3) support staff.

The goals of our program are to strive to maintain our fiscally self-supporting status and to play a leading role within the Criminal Justice community, as well as within the community at large, regarding the issues of Driving Under the Influence. The program generated revenues for the calendar year 2005 in the amount of $1,026,981.64, while spending only 97% of its total budget in the amount of $860,460.49, thus posting a net revenue overage of $166,521.15. This program continues to view the collection of Court costs, fines, and restitution as a significant part of probation and parole supervision, as well as an important factor in the rehabilitation of the offender.

The DUI Program is primarily responsible for the active probation/parole supervision of all DUI offenders sentenced by the Northampton County Court. Those offenders include persons participating in the ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) Program, for first time offenders. In 2005, the ARD component of the DUI Program screened 832 individuals to determine their eligibility for an ARD disposition. That number represents the first decrease in applicants in five years and an 11% drop from 2004. Of those screened, 778 were admitted into the ARD Program and were placed on ARD/DUI probation, each for a period of six months. In addition to the Pennsylvania State mandated requirements of a CRN evaluation and attendance at the Alcohol Highway Safety Program, 702 or 90% of all 2005 ARD participants were referred for follow up outpatient counseling. The breakdown of treatment referrals is as follows: Intervention groups – in county (171), out of county (160), psycho-educational programs (322), intensive outpatient treatment (8), continuation in present treatment (33), and D&A or MH/MR evaluations (8).

The active parole supervision of all non-ARD first time offenders as well as second and third time offenders is conducted by the DUI Probation Officers upon the completion of the offender’s mandatory minimum prison sentence. The DUI Program received 375 new parole case assignments in 2005, which represents an increase of 6% over the previous year. Of those cases, 192 were first offenses, 158 were second offenses, and 29 were third offenses. It should also be noted that, due to the increased penalties under the new DUI Statute, 28 of those cases received the statutory maximum sentence of five years based upon their high BAC and the findings of their mandatory Drug and Alcohol Evaluations. Lastly, we received requests for courtesy supervision of 55 parolees who were county residents convicted of DUI offenses outside of Northampton County.

DUI Morning Call
DUI Court Day

Offenders waiting in line to pay their fines.
(Morning Call photo, Pete Shaheen, photographer)

An additional component of the DUI Program’s supervision extends to the Alternative Sentencing Program (ASP) for second offenders. ASP was established to divert second time DUI offenders from serving their entire mandatory minimum prison sentence under incarceration. This program is a Restrictive Intermediate Punishment Program designed in accordance to the IP requirements of lessening degree of severity in steps. ASP permits offenders who meet specific program requirements to serve only a portion of their State mandated minimum sentence within the County prison facility. Those qualified individuals serve the initial seven (7) days within the Northampton County Prison and are then either placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring for the remaining twenty-three (23) days (those offenders with 30 day mandatory min.) or are transferred to the Work Release facility for a period of twenty-three (23) days prior to being released to house arrest with electronic monitoring for their remaining sixty (60) days (those offenders with 90 day mandatory min.). This program enables many individuals who would otherwise risk the loss of employment to continue to work while serving their sentences. In addition to Pennsylvania State requirements for all DUI offenders, those persons participating in ASP are required to attend an intensive counseling program, while on house arrest, for seventeen consecutive weeknights, three hours/night. They are also required to perform community work service and attend AA meetings on weekends during the term of their house arrest. During the calendar year 2005, the program supervised 109 persons with only one individual being removed during the course of his supervision. We attribute that level of success in part to the intensive screening of applicants prior to their Court appearances. Savings to the County in reduced costs of prison stay was in excess of $400,000.00 based upon the daily rate per prisoner in costs of incarceration.

The DUI Program continued to administer the County’s two DUI Central Processing Centers, during 2005, in conjunction with the Northampton County Sheriff’s Department. The first of these centers is located within the Bethlehem Police Department headquarters and is currently in its 19th year of operation. The second center is located adjacent to our Program offices, within the County Court Complex in Easton, Pa., and is entering its sixth year of operation. The centers currently employ approximately forty (40) part-time persons and, although the majority of the operations of both centers are on an on-call basis, both sites are open and staffed from 6:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.

During the calendar year 2005, a total of 1,354 suspected DUI offenders were processed by our centers, 774 at our Bethlehem site, and 580 in Easton. That total number represents the highest number of persons ever processed in a calendar year within Northampton County. It also represents an increase of 19% over our 2004 figures. In addition, it should be noted that in 2005, as in the previous three years, the average blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of those individuals processed by the centers was slightly greater than 0.19%, or nearly two and one half times the legal limit. In 2005, one person tested at .40% or greater, thirty one (31) tested at .30% or greater, two hundred and sixty one (261) tested at .20% or greater, and one hundred and eighteen (118) persons refused to submit to a blood draw. Lastly, it should be noted that at the end of 2005 the operation of the processing centers was officially turned over to the Northampton County District Attorney’s and Sheriff’s Departments as an initial step towards the implementation of a county-wide centralized booking system.

The DUI Program has placed an emphasis on community involvement as a preventative measure since its inception. Staff members continue to be active within the community providing presentations to numerous civic groups and schools in the Lehigh Valley, as well as participation at various local health and employment fairs. We continue our memberships in the Pennsylvania DUI Association, Lehigh Valley – Team DUI, and the Northampton County Chiefs of Police Association. In addition, due to the numerous changes to the DUI Statute in February 2004, our Program, in conjunction with the District Attorney’s Office, has provided ongoing informational/training sessions to law enforcement agencies and the Northampton County Bar Association. Lastly, we continue to host the Pennsylvania Standard Field Sobriety Training offered to local enforcement agencies. It continues to be the objective of all those involved with the DUI Program to provide an excellent level of service to the Court and to our clients, while at the same time taking the lead in DUI related issues in Northampton County.

Court Divisions & Operations

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