More than 800 Pennsylvania drivers learned recently that their license, which had been suspended in a court case, is now only taking effect as a result of a backlog of filing in the Carbon County Clerk of Courts office from a previous official.

Current Clerk of Courts Tyra Boni announced Tuesday that her office discovered approximately 800 suspensions that had not been processed, some dating back to 1999. The office had been backed up several years in case reporting and filings from former Clerk of Courts William McGinley, who was later charged with stealing from the office and sentenced to a prison term.

Boni said that the discovery came to light in mid-May when court administration told her office that approximately 40 driver’s license suspensions had not been forwarded to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation following sentencing hearings.

That led to Boni’s team looking through files and discovering the additional suspensions that had not been filed. Of the 800, 94 suspensions were from hearings processed in 2019 and nine were from hearings in 2020.

According to the Pennsylvania codes, county clerk of courts offices are legally obligated to forward driver’s license suspensions to PennDOT, no matter how long ago the case was handled, Boni said.

“These outstanding (driver’s license) suspensions were sent to PennDOT in late May and early June 2021,” Boni said. “As PennDOT processes this paperwork, they will notify impacted individuals of their suspensions. These notifications, sent via mail, signify the effective date of the suspensions and also when the driving privileges can be restored.

“PennDOT is the legal authority in (driver’s license) suspensions. In order for a driver’s license to be restored, an individual must file for restoration through PennDOT of their driving privileges as well as pay associated fees.”

Boni said “suspensions are not effective upon an individual surrendering the driver’s license but rather on the date listed in the PennDOT notice. The PennDOT suspension notification will offer instructions on the right to appeal the suspension within 30 days of the date of the letter.

“The Clerk of Court’s Office corrected the issue as swiftly as possible once it became aware of the unprocessed license suspensions,” Boni said. “Currently, DL suspensions are being forwarded to PennDOT within 10 days of respective sentencing hearings.

“Through hard work and dedication, the office has made great strides in resolving backlog issues that dated back over two decades while more efficiently and effectively processing new caseloads. We will continue to strive for excellence in service.”