A spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving said differences between how judges sentence offenders hamper DUI enforcement efforts in Fargo.
But one of Cass County's district court judges said her contention is based on outdated information.
Deb Jevne, who released MADD rankings Thursday showing that North Dakota scores low on drunk-driving enforcement, said it's handicapped here by "judge picking."
People arrested for DUI in Fargo go before Municipal Judge Tom Davies, who "is very strict on drunk drivers," Jevne said.
But some people arrested for DUI ask for a jury trial, which must be conducted in district court.
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That means the case is transferred to East Central District Court and they don't appear before Davies.
"In district court, drunk driving is a low crime to them and most of those people plead out," Jevne said. "We would like to see stopping of the judge-picking."
The district's presiding judge said if defendants ever went judge-shopping here, they don't any more.
"It sounds to me like she's a little bit behind the curve," said East Central District Judge Michael McGuire.
First-time DUI defendants generally face identical sentences, whether they go through Fargo Municipal Court or district court, McGuire said. "There might be a slight variation at times, but it's pretty consistent."
Those who plead guilty generally receive a $500 fine and a 30-day suspended sentence, plus an order to go through an alcohol evaluation, McGuire said.
Subsequent offenses have mandatory minimum sentences, he said.
"If (Jevne) had said that a year ago, there might be some differences, but there's very little difference now," McGuire said.
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The same is true on minor-in-possession cases, he said. Sentences there are "pretty close to uniform," although in some cases the district court might impose slightly more jail time.
Davies said he hasn't tracked district court sentences for DUI offenses, so he didn't know if they are much different than those he imposes.
If there's any judge-shopping going on, the Legislature could have stopped it last session but didn't, Davies said.
Sen. Tim Flakoll, R-Fargo, introduced a bill that would have sent DUI cases that don't go to trial -- cases in which the defendant wanted to change his plea to guilty -- back to the original court of jurisdiction. Fargo cases would have ended up back in municipal court.
But the bill never made it out of committee, Davies said.
"To this day, I don't know who opposed it," he said.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Tom Pantera at (701) 241-5541
