Judge sets court date for fate of 2,300 traffic defendants

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A district court judge is challenging a county attorney’s revenue-generating traffic school in Kentucky.

Kentucky news outlets report Judge Sean Delahanty is opposed to the operation of Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell’s traffic school which allows traffic violators to get their cases dismissed without having to pay court costs.

A state Supreme Court ruling filed in June allows drivers to get their citations dismissed if they pay a fee and take O’Connell’s online program. But Delahanty has declined to dismiss charges against roughly 2,300 defendants who have graduated from the program. Delahanty argues the county attorney’s office has no right to dismiss charges without court costs also being applied.

Delahanty set a Thursday hearing for five representative defendants. Delahanty says any order he issues will apply to all 2,300 cases.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.