Select Board vice chair Mary Jo LaFreniere is scheduled to appear in Framingham District Court on March 26 on a charge of driving under the influence, according to a Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson.

Spokesperson Sarah Lamson confirmed the hearing date via email, noting that a pretrial conference was held Feb. 5.

Austin Nagle, an operations specialist at Framingham District Court, stated via email that the probable disposition hearing is scheduled on March 26 at 9:30 a.m., adding, the hearing likely will be held “anytime prior to 1 p.m.”

LaFreniere, 76, had an automatic plea of not guilty entered on her behalf at the pretrial conference hearing at Framingham District Court and was released without bail, according to a news report. This article stated that LaFreniere had two Irish coffees on the night of the accident. Irish coffee typically is made with whiskey.

LaFreniere was arrested on Dec. 15, 2024, at 10:34 p.m. on Walcott Valley Drive, the street where she resides, according to the police log. She was involved in a minor automobile accident after leaving TJ’s Food & Spirits, a bar on the Hopkinton-Ashland line. LaFreniere, who was not injured, requested that her vehicle be towed after she drove onto a curb and damaged a wheel on her vehicle.

At that time, she told the Independent she had gone to TJ’s after attending her cousin’s wake earlier that day.

The two-term Select Board member is not seeking reelection in May. During her tenure, she has been a passionate advocate for Hopkinton’s older residents, most recently in regard to the means-tested senior tax exemption program. As the Select Board’s liaison to the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority, she previously helped get a wheelchair accessible bus route to the Hopkinton Senior Center and advocated for an expansion of  bus service.

LaFreniere previously served on the Board of Assessors and the Tax Relief Committee and as a Commissioner of Trust Funds. She also has served for five terms on the Marathon Committee.