The gavel came down in the courthouse on just one drunken driving case for the month of September, which is peculiar for La Plata County.
It’s not that people are getting smarter about getting behind the wheel after imbibing. Rather, La Plata County Judge Martha Minot took a six-week vacation in Spain, postponing DUI sentences that would have otherwise come down.
Because of this absence, Minot expects her caseload to double over the next couple of months, she estimated.
“Because none of the other judges are hired to do my job, and the state doesn’t provide coverage for vacation, my work gets rolled over,” she said. “So for probably the next three months, you’ll see an increase in convictions.”
Minot said it is difficult to estimate the amount of time between conviction and sentencing, because the cases vary. She said she’s looking at 16 pages of cases to be heard Tuesday morning.
From January through September 2015, Durango Police Department collected a total of 124 DUI reports and a median of 14 each month. There were nine reports in the month of September, and 14 thus far for October. These reports don’t include driving while ability impaired. DPD has had about 20 reports of that nature so far in 2015.
La Plata County Sheriff’s Office reported 70 DUI cases so far this year.
jpace@durangoherald.com
