Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is recruiting volunteers to start a court monitoring program in Johnston and Harnett counties.

The effort comes as a former Assistant District Attorney, four attorneys, and a former court clerk face charges for allegedly participating in the unlawful dismissal of DWI cases in Johnston County.

A small group of MADD volunteers met in Smithfield Tuesday night to get the new program started.

MADD will train the volunteers to go into the courts to track DWI convictions and dismissals.

Johnston County has a DWI conviction rate of about 90 percent, according to Assistant District Attorney Whitney Hendrix, who was at the meeting.

But volunteers can catch mistakes that others may not, Hendrix said.

"If you work in that system every day you don't know that something may not be fair because you see it all the time," Hendrix said. "You're used to it. You're immune to it. But they're not and I think that they're able to bring those things out and bring them to light."

Volunteers can also help keep useful statistics, Hendrix added.

"The District Attorney's office, as any state agency, is understaffed and overworked and doesn't have time to keep a lot of statistics that would probably be really helpful," Hendrix said.

If you would like more information about MADD's court monitoring program, call 1-800-248-6233.