Adams County Sheriff Dale Wagner has had his driver's license reinstated; it had been suspended in mid-2023 over a traffic fine Wagner said he didn't know he owed.
In a statement released Tuesday, Wagner said he received a traffic ticket for speeding near Royal City in April 2023. He was in his personal vehicle and not working, he said.
He paid the ticket, but because the payment arrived late, he was assessed an additional fee. He said he didn't receive notification regarding the additional fine, he said, and since it wasn't paid his license was suspended. Wagner said he wasn't notified his license was suspended either.
In answer to a question from the Columbia Basin Herald, he said the Washington Department of Licensing did not say why he had not been notified.
"But then, I never asked," he wrote. "I just paid the fine. It is what it is."
His license was reinstated once he paid the fee, he said.
"I see it as an opportunity to improve," Wagner wrote in his statement.
ACSO will start a yearly review of employee driver's license status to ensure any potential problems are found and addressed, he said.
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