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It’s never surprising to hear new allegations of political shenanigans at the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles.

“No state agency has such a rich history in scandal and misdeeds or has been such a dumping group for political hacks,” Rob Christensen, long-time political reporter for The News & Observer of Raleigh, wrote in a 2007 column.

The occasion then was the resignation of director George Tatum “after allegations of rampant cronyism,” Christensen reported.

The “rich history” before then included a director fired for pulling a gun on a former legislator, another who pleaded no contest to drug charges, and yet another convicted of obstruction of justice; the discovery of a prostitution ring operating out of a boiler room at DMV headquarters; various shakedowns for political contributions; and many other embarrassments.

Will it ever stop? WRAL News in Raleigh reported last week that DMV documents subpoenaed by a federal grand jury show meddling in agency hiring by influential politicians.

Wayne Hurder, a former DMV deputy commissioner, created some of the documents, which contained notations pointing out special reasons why certain applicants should be hired.

“People had to have their finger in the DMV pie,” Hurder told WRAL.

The current DMV commissioner, Mike Robertson, who’s new in office and hasn’t been linked to any scandal, defended the agency’s practices as being in line with the state’s merit-based hiring system. We hope that is finally true. If it is, it’s probably the first time.

“In several cases, there was undue influence, absolutely,” Hurder said of his time at the agency.

State legislators and other elected officials, all the way up to the governor, should not push political supporters, cousins or hometown pals into state jobs. It cheats citizens who lack those connections of fair opportunities to work for their state government.

The federal grand jury looking into activities of former Gov. Mike Easley’s administration seems to have lots to do. DMV alone probably could keep it busy for months.