TO EACH HIS OWN FORM, PROCEDURE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 15, 1993                   TAG: 9304150465
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
TO EACH HIS OWN FORM, PROCEDURE
I RECENTLY obtained a copy of my driving record. There was a mistake, so I went to the Division of Motor Vehicles. They checked and told me the information had been entered by the court, so any corrections had to be handled by the court. Or, DMV could correct it if I got an abstract. Years before I had done the same thing with one difference: It was elsewhere in the state.
When I went to the General District Court in Roanoke County, they told me there was no error. According to their records, everything was correct. Eventually, I received the abstract, which looked nothing like the one I had received previously.
I took the abstract to DMV where it had to be approved by the branch manager. A call had to be placed to Richmond to see whether it could be taken, because it was not the proper form, nor was it stamped or sealed.
Why would two General District Courts in the same state handle things so differently? How can information be passed on from court to court within the commonwealth if the forms and procedures are not the same? JANET A. WOODY BLACKSBURG

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB