ORDERS:
ORDER OF DISMISSAL
Pursuant to ALC Rule 37, Appellant South Carolina Department of Motor
Vehicles (Department) was required to file an appellate brief in the
above-captioned matter with this Court “within fifteen (15) days after receipt
of the Record on Appeal.” ALC Rule 37(A). The Division of Motor Vehicle
Hearings filed the Record on Appeal in this matter, which included a transcript
of the hearing below, on June 22, 2006. However, the Department did not file
its appellate brief in this matter until September 7, 2006, some seventy-seven
days later, and did not request an extension of time for filing the brief until
August 7, 2006, some forty-six days after the Record was filed. By a Motion to Dismiss filed on August 8, 2006, Respondent Cynthia Singleton
moved to dismiss this appeal for the Department’s failure to timely prosecute
this matter. For the reasons set forth below, Respondent’s motion to dismiss
is granted.
Pursuant
to ALC Rule 38, this Court may dismiss an appeal where a party fails to timely
file an appellate brief. That rule provides that:
Upon motion of
any party, or on its own motion, an administrative law judge may dismiss an
appeal for failure to comply with any of the rules of procedure for appeals, including
the failure to comply with any of the time limits provided by this section.
ALC Rule 38
(emphasis added). By virtue of its request for an appeal, the Department had
an obligation to advance its position in a timely fashion, and the
Department was given ample time to do so. Nonetheless, the Department failed
to timely file an appellate brief in support of its appeal or to timely request
an extension of the time within which to file its brief. This case must,
therefore, be dismissed. “There is a limit beyond which the court should not
allow a litigant to consume the time of the court . . . .” Georganne
Apparel, Inc. v. Todd, 303 S.C. 87, 92, 399 S.E.2d 16, 19 (Ct. App. 1990).
IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that this case is hereby DISMISSED with prejudice.
AND IT IS SO ORDERED.
______________________________
JOHN D.
GEATHERS
Administrative
Law Judge
October 16, 2006
Columbia, South Carolina
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