Sweetest Little Courthouse in Hidalgo.

I stumbled across this article today and was left in awe.  According to The Monitor, Hidalgo Municipal Court Judge William C. Romo has been passing out ticket dismissals under the table.  In March 2011, Hidalgo police stopped an 18-year-old high school student for speeding – again.Officers knew him well. Since February 2010, police had stopped the student for speeding, ignoring stop signs and disregarding a red light.  But despite racking up seven traffic tickets. Mauricio Cepeda hadn’t paid a dime. Municipal Judge William C. Romo dismissed three tickets after the student’s father, Hidalgo school board president Martin Cepeda, intervened. Clerks entered four others into the court’s computer system as warnings. You can read the rest of the article here.

I am all for putting in a few favors to a friend with some “pull” but this has gone over board.  The city has lost countless dollars in revenue, the Judges credibility is tainted, and the safety of other drivers and pedestrians have been put at risk due to no one making the repeat offenders attend a driver safety school.  This judge has sent the message that ticket dismissal doesn’t require you to learn mature driving techniques but to have the right connections to get the point reduction.