Last modified: Thursday, March 30, 2006 12:15 PM PST Bus driver arraigned in Payette County Andrew Cutler Argus Observer PAYETTE A former bus driver for the Fruitland School District turned herself into authorities Wednesday after prosecutors issued a warrant for her arrest. Teresa Dixon, 45, Fruitland, was arraigned in the Payette County Magistrate Court on 23 counts of injury to a child and one count of driving under the influence. “She turned herself into the Payette County Jail sometime before the arraignments today,” Fruitland Police Department Det. JD Huff said. “Those usually occur around 1:30 p.m.” Dixon's bond was set at $10,000. Dixon posted a surety bond and will be scheduled for an arraignment date later. Dixon, a bus driver with the Fruitland School District, is accused of transporting children while under the influence. School district officials received an anonymous tip earlier this month that Dixon might have been driving a loaded school bus while drunk. When the woman finished her route, police said, school district administrators had her undergo alcohol breath tests through a private testing company. Dixon's blood alcohol level was nearly four times the .04 legal intoxication threshold for a commercial driver, Huff said. The intoxication threshold for noncommercial drivers is .08. The Fruitland School District, acting on the advice of its attorney, did not immediately notify police of the incident. Fruitland police became involved a couple of days later, after receiving another tip. “The school district did discover a bus driver who was under the influence, and the driver is no longer driving, and actually is no longer employed by the district,” Fruitland School District Superintendent Alan Felgenhauer said last week. “We were informed by our attorney that because it was a personnel matter we couldn't (turn the information over to the police).” Police submitted a request for criminal complaints against Dixon to Fruitland city prosecutor Bert Osborn in the wake of the investigation. The charges went to Osborn, rather than Payette County Prosecuting Attorney Brian Lee, because they are misdemeanor offenses rather than felonies. Charges also go to Lee when there is physical harm to a juvenile, which, in this case, did not apply.