The commissioner of the Department of Children and Families is going to be learning about booze and could be cleared of charges that she had a little too much of it before she got behind the wheel in January.
Susan Hamilton, 42, of West Hartford, was stopped by a state trooper who saw her driving erratically on Interstate 91 northbound in North Haven just before 7 p.m. on Jan. 22.
Hamilton, who was appointed DCF Commissioner in 2007, failed a field sobriety test, police said, and was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and failure to maintain lane.
Friday, a Meriden Superior Court judge approved her application for an alcohol education program.
She must attend a 22-hour weekend alcohol education program and, if successful, her drunken driving charges will be erased after a year.
Hamilton was heavily criticized after the arrest and said she felt remorse and embarrassment.
“I deeply regret this matter and have apologized to the Governor for the incident,” she wrote. “I have never been arrested before, and I pledge to the Governor, the staff of the Department, and to the citizens of this state that I will take all necessary and appropriate steps to make sure this never happens again.”
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Gov. M. Jodi Rell nominated Hamilton, a one-time social worker, in May 2007 to head the state's child welfare agency.
