Lexington County magistrates won’t hear DUI charge against Myers

All nine Lexington County magistrates have excused themselves from legal proceedings on the drunken-driving charge pending against Solicitor Donnie Myers.

The decision means a judge from elsewhere will be assigned to preside at a hearing set for March 21.

“All of us excused ourselves to avoid any appearance of impropriety,” Chief Magistrate Gary Reinhart said Tuesday.

Myers and the prosecutors he oversees often appear before county magistrates on traffic violations and some misdemeanor criminal offenses.

Troopers with the State Highway Patrol arrested Myers for driving under the influence after his car veered off the road and hit a utility pole near his Lake Murray home Feb. 22.

It was his third arrest for an alcohol-related traffic offense in nearly 11 years.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Lexington County magistrates won’t hear DUI charge against Myers."