Grants to add Maricopa County video conference sites for ADOT hearings

PHOENIX – Grants from the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety will allow many Phoenix-area law enforcement officers and others called to testify in cases before the Arizona Department of Transportation’s administrative law judges to do so by video conferencing from locations in Mesa and Glendale.

Two grants totaling $50,000 will be used to expand an ADOT Executive Hearing Office video conferencing system already used in Flagstaff, Kingman, Prescott, Sierra Vista, Show Low, Tucson and Yuma.

Executive Hearing Office judges heard more than 7,700 administrative cases in 2017 in Phoenix courtrooms as well as through video conferencing with sites around Arizona. Many cases involve reinstatement of driver licenses suspended due to a DUI, medical review for reinstating driver licenses, motor carrier violations and fuel tax evasion.

For most cases from outside the Phoenix area, law enforcement officers and other parties are directed to report to a video conference site, though a party may request to appear in a courtroom at the ADOT Executive Hearing Office at 3838 N. Central Ave., just north of downtown Phoenix.

That process soon will apply to cases in which certain Phoenix-area parties will be directed to video conferencing sites to be established this summer at Motor Vehicle Division offices at 4121 E. Valley Auto Drive in Mesa and 16380 N. 59th Ave. in Glendale.

Getting to Executive Hearing Office courtrooms can require long trips and significant commitments of time for many law enforcement officers in the greater Phoenix area. Reducing that time can save tax dollars by reducing overtime costs in addition to reducing how long officers are away from their primary duties.

In gauging support for these new video conference sites, ADOT surveyed police chiefs and traffic officer supervisors from law enforcement agencies  in the East Valley and West Valley.

“ADOT’s goal is having every employee, everywhere, solving problems every day, and these grants from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety are helping us do just that for Valley law enforcement officers and other parties who currently face long trips to our courtrooms,” said Rick Rice, the chief administrative law judge who supervises Executive Hearing Office judges and staff.

“Operation of these remote sites will allow law enforcement officers to spend less time traveling to and from hearings to appear as witnesses and ensure that the officers can return to their duties within their jurisdictions sooner,’’ said Alberto Gutier, director of the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.

The Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety is the focal point for highway safety issues in Arizona. The cabinet agency provides leadership by developing, promoting and coordinating programs; influencing public and private policy; and increasing public awareness of highway safety.

For more information about the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, please visit gohs.az.gov.

For more information about ADOT, please visit azdot.gov.