Allegheny County’s DL-21 Reporting Error and How a Pennsylvania License Suspension Lawyer Can Help PROTECT Your Driving Privileges

Bart D. Wischnowski, Esq., (412) 594-5565 or bwischnowski@tuckerlaw.com

Thousands Affected by Allegheny County’s Reporting Error: What It Means for Your Driver’s License

The Allegheny County Department of Court Records recently admitted to a serious administrative mistake: it failed to send over a thousand required forms to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT). Because of this, many people are now receiving driver’s license suspension notices years—sometimes even a decade—after their cases were resolved.

If you’re one of the people affected, you’re probably wondering what this means for your license and what your legal rights are. This post explains what happened, why it matters, and how a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision may help protect you.

What Is a DL-21 Form — and Why Does It Matter?

Whenever someone is convicted, acquitted, or otherwise has a case resolved involving a motor vehicle violation, the court must notify PennDOT by sending a form called a DL-21.

The DL-21 form tells PennDOT the outcome of the case and allows it to take any required administrative actions—such as suspending or reinstating a driver’s license.

Under Pennsylvania law, the clerk of courts—Allegheny County’s clerk of courts is called the “Department of Court Records”—is supposed to send the DL-21 form within ten days of the case’s disposition. 75 Pa.C.S. § 6323(1)(i); see also 67 Pa.Code Chapter 81.

But in thousands of cases, the Allegheny County Department of Court Records never sent these forms to PennDOT. This failure violated the law and caused serious downstream problems for drivers—many of whom are now being told their licenses are going to be suspended after they thought their cases were long over.

The Middaugh Decision: When Government Delay Becomes Unfair

Fortunately, there’s a legal precedent that may help. In PennDOT v. Middaugh, 244 A.3d 426 (Pa. 2021), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court addressed a very similar issue.

In that case, the clerk of courts in Delaware County waited 28 months to report a driver’s DUI conviction to PennDOT. Id. at 428. When PennDOT finally received the DL-21 form, it tried to impose a 12-month license suspension. Id. The driver appealed, arguing that such a long delay—caused entirely by the government—was fundamentally unfair.

The Supreme Court agreed. It held that the delay violated the driver’s due process rights, and the suspension was thrown out. Id. at 438–39. The Court explained:

“. . . it seems to us objectively unreasonable for a driver to have to wait nearly two and a half years for administrative action that is expected to occur within approximately two months — and would occur during that timeframe where the governmental entities involved are functioning competently, as citizens have a right to expect them to do.”

244 A.3d at 438.

The Court laid out four key factors for when a delayed suspension may be invalid:

1. The delay in reporting was extraordinary;
2. The delay was entirely the government’s fault;
3. The driver no longer poses a danger to the public, as shown by their clean driving record during the delay; and
4. Enforcing the suspension would unfairly prejudice the driver.

Id. at 433–38. Appellate courts have applied this framework numerous times to stop PennDOT from enforcing a delayed driver’s license suspension. E.g., Gingrich v. PennDOT, 134 A.3d 528, 534–35 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2016) (10 years); Capizzi v. PennDOT, 141 A.3d 635, 643 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2016) (7 years and 10 months); Gilmour v. PennDOT, 208 A.3d 552, 556 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2019) (2 years and 7 months); Naginey v. PennDOT, 201 A.3d 290, 296 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2019) (3 years and 1 month).

The Court even noted that a 10- or 12-year delay could be considered automatically unfair. Middaugh, 244 A.3d at 438.

That means drivers caught up in Allegheny County’s DL-21 reporting failure may have a strong argument that late-issued suspensions are invalid.

What You Can Do to Protect Your License

The bottom line is this: an administrative mistake shouldn’t derail your life years later. Under Middaugh, if the delay was the government’s fault and you’re now facing a suspension as a result, PennDOT may be barred from enforcing it.

If you recently received a suspension notice that stems from an old case, don’t ignore it. Take steps to protect your Pennsylvania driver’s license by reaching out to Bart Wischnowski at (412) 594-5565 or bwischnowski@tuckerlaw.com.