MADD’s Court Monitoring Program enlists court monitors to observe and document what happens in the courtroom during impaired driving case proceedings. The program was created to ensure that impaired driving offenders are prosecuted and justice is achieved. Court monitoring is a tool proven to affect the adjudication process and is recognized by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as an effective countermeasure to reduce impaired driving (1). Court monitors on the local scale can impact the handling of impaired driving cases by their mere presence in the court room.
Court monitoring is intended to enhance transparency and accountability within the criminal justice system and reduce the likelihood of repeat offenses. One way this goal is achieved is by sharing data and observations with law enforcement, judges, prosecutors, and the public to promote awareness of impaired driving and ensure accountability for all impaired driving offenders. To reduce future offenses, MADD® supports swift and unbiased treatment of all impaired driving cases. Court monitors track misdemeanor impaired driving cases in the judicial courts of their respective counties. Court monitors are often physically present for court settings and acquire case information from courtroom observation and, when necessary, from researching online databases. The data is then entered into the MADD National Court Monitoring Database for reporting purposes. The information presented in this report is from cases monitored in 2021.
The South Carolina Court Monitoring Program monitored cases in Berkeley, Charleston, Greenville, Horry, Lexington, Richland and Spartanburg counties.
South Carolina State Report (reporting period: 1/1/2021 – 12/31/2021)
Pending Cases Monitored* | 2347 | 76% Adjudicated Cases Monitored | 753 | 24% Total Cases Monitored in 2021 | 3100 *pending cases are cases waiting for a judgement
This report is designed to present observations and trends relative to the ten counties monitored and is not intended to be a statistical analysis.
by County Dispositions
Case Disposition DUI
250
Guilty Pled Down Dropped/Dismissed/Not Guilty
209
200
Berkeley
150
Charleston
136
Greenville
100
Horry
53
42
50
Lexington
9
0
Richland
Spartanburg
0
50
100
150
200
250
*An amended disposition means the charge was amended to a lesser charge (such as Reckless Driving).
Data reported where disposition is known.
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