This award is presented by the International Driver Examiner Certification (IDEC) Board and AAMVA to recognize outstanding examiners.
Each IDEC accredited member jurisdiction may nominate only ONE examiner for outstanding performance as a driver's license examiner.
Examiners are selected for their excellence in adhering to the principles and recommended practices of driver examining (the Examiner's Code of Ethics) and for their high level of conduct in their profession.
The Examiner's Code of Ethics:
- Professionalism
- Respect
- Integrity
- Due Dilligence
- Equality
Each jurisdiction's Examiner of the Year receives a certificate and a congratulatory letter from the IDEC Executive Board.
After all submissions are received, one examiner is selected as the Outstanding Examiner of the Year and is presented the award at the Annual International Conference.
2022 Outstanding Examiner of the Year
Barbara Hord
Motor Vehicle Customer Service Representative III
Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles
Barbara Hord has been with the Alaska Division of Motor vehicles for over 20 years. She began her career working as an administrative assistant for the Directors Office, then spent many years as a road examiner and eventually moved up to the Commercial Compliance department. Her love for CDL road examinations inspired her to be the compliance expert she is today. She has spent countless hours researching commercial federal regulations to ensure the Alaska third party testers are compliant. Barbara has conducted CDL examiner training, where she has prepared examiners for success in administering CDL skills road tests. There are times where we have needed her to drop all that she is doing to travel, and she does so with no hesitation. The care she has for ensuring commercial driver’s licenses are issued correctly is exponential. In addition, she does daily audits of CDL issuance, she is in constant communication with our third-party testers and assists them with examination questions, reviewing the routes provided, and is always available to help enter test scores into CSTIMS. As our division expert, Barbara has provided trainings to help everyone understand entry level driver training (ELDT) and CSTIMS, patiently training all new employees and keeping a daily eye out for errors so she can work one on one with staff for correction. She also onboards any new third-party testers who register with the state and she conducts examiner audits overtly and covertly across the state. She identifies fraudulent testing when she sees it and follows through to ensure appropriate action is taken so there are no lapses in integrity for Alaska’s CDL program. As an example of her dedication to CDL skills testing, during and for a limited time after the Covid-19 pandemic, she was the sole examiner for the entire state of Alaska. She conducted a minimum of 70 CDL road skills tests in various communities within the state traveling to the most remote areas of the state to ensure that all Alaskans received their skills test.
2022 Examiners of the Year
Alaska
Barbara Hord
Florida
Ernst Compere
Georgia
Billie Jean Dart
Indiana
Ellie Emerson
Iowa
Traci Keel
Kentucky
Jo Anne Hobgood
Minnesota
Thad Aaseth
Maine
James "JT" Foster
New Jersey
Fernando Rendeiro
North Dakota
Solena Senkle
Ontario
Tobias Thomas
South Carolina
Rebecca Flores
Tennessee
Lauren Swords
Utah
Amanda Larson
Vermont
Sean Quinn
Virginia
Debbie Harrison
West Virginia
Anthony (Tony) Baisi
Wisconsin
Melissa Schutte
Wyoming
Mikaela Smith
Past Outstanding Examiners of the Year
2021: Jason Hennessy, Iowa
2020: Patricia Nelson, Wisconsin
2019: John Mathieu, Florida
2018: Earl Bunnell, New Hampshire
2017: Chasity Perry, Kentucky
2016: Janet Hood, Wyoming
2015: Curtis Berryhill, Florida
2014: Renee Devine (awarded posthumously), Iowa
2013: Deborah Gilley, Kentucky