ATLANTA --- State Rep. Ben Harbin and his attorney denied Monday any wrongdoing in a possible mix-up that allowed the Evans Republican to keep his driver's license after last year's arrest on suspicion of drunken driving.

For days, speculation has swirled about why Atlanta police Officer Bryan French, who arrested Mr. Harbin after an early-morning vehicle accident in May 2007, missed a hearing in which his testimony would have helped an administrative law judge decide whether Mr. Harbin's license should be suspended.

Mr. Harbin had appealed the Department of Driver Services' action to suspend his license, and the department asked that the Office of State Administrative Hearings, which resolves disputes between individuals and state agencies, rule on the matter, a standard procedure in such challenges.

Officer French did not respond to repeated phone requests for an interview on Monday. Last week WRDW-TV reported that he said he had received an "official looking" document telling him that an Aug. 14 administrative hearing had been rescheduled.

Mr. Harbin's attorney, Robert Highsmith, said Monday that he knew of no such document.

"I'm unaware of anyone acting inappropriately in the matter, but if someone did I'd like to know," Mr. Highsmith said.

Four days before the Aug. 14 hearing, Mr. Highsmith faxed Officer French and e-mailed Judge Elbert Hackney, requesting a postponement of the hearing until September, Mr. Highsmith said.

Judge Hackney denied the motion, and the case continued as scheduled, Mr. Highsmith said. Officer French did not appear at the hearing, and Judge Hackney dismissed the case -- an action that allowed Mr. Harbin to keep his driving privileges. Mr. Highsmith noted that about a dozen other cases were dismissed that day because a party involved did not appear.

Mr. Harbin, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said neither he nor his lawyer did anything wrong.

Mr. Highsmith's motion bears the heading of the Office of State Administrative Hearings, as is customary in written motions is most courts. It requested that the hearing be continued to September because his client had yet to be arraigned in municipal court and was working to reach a plea bargain that might nullify the suspension hearing.

Mr. Harbin was arrested about 1:15 a.m. May 20 after his silver Nissan Maxima slammed into an electrical pole near downtown Atlanta. Police have said he failed field sobriety tests and refused to submit to a blood test when taken to a hospital.

Mr. Harbin, noting his case is pending, would not say why he refused the blood test.

A criminal case on the drunken driving charge against Mr. Harbin is pending in Atlanta Municipal Court after delays. His next appearance is scheduled for June 24.