AB 17

Under current law, if a person is convicted of a second offense relating to

operating a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration (in most cases, a

concentration of 0.8 or higher) or under the influence of an intoxicant (OWI-related

offense), a judge may immobilize the person's motor vehicles or require that the

person's operating privilege be limited to operating vehicles that are equipped with

an ignition interlock device. If a person is convicted of a third or subsequent

OWI-related offense within five years, a judge must limit the person's operating

privilege to operating vehicles that are equipped with an ignition interlock device

unless the judge orders that the person's motor vehicles be immobilized or seized and

sold at auction.

Current law requires the person to pay for the costs of installing and monitoring

the ignition interlock device on every motor vehicle he or she owns. If the judge

determines that this would work a hardship to the person, current law allows the

judge to require an ignition interlock device on some, but not all, of the person's motor

vehicles.

Under current law, no one may remove, disconnect, tamper with, or otherwise

circumvent the operation of an ignition interlock device. A person who does so may

be required to forfeit not less than $150 nor more than $600 for the first offense and,

for a second or subsequent offense within five years, may be fined not less than $300

nor more than $1,000, or imprisoned for not more than six months, or both.

This bill eliminates the option of ordering the person's vehicle to be immobilized

or seized and sold at auction. The bill makes it mandatory for a judge to require that

the person's operating privilege be limited, for a minimum of one year, to operating

vehicles that are equipped with an ignition interlock device if either of the following

are true: 1) the person commits a first OWI-related offense with an alcohol

concentration of 0.15 or more; or 2) the person commits a second OWI-related

offense.

Under the bill, the judge must order that every motor vehicle the person owns

be equipped with an ignition interlock device. If the judge determines that the

person's income is at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level, the person is

required to pay a $50 surcharge upon the installation of the first ignition interlock

device and, for each ignition interlock device, half of the installation cost, and $1 per

day toward the cost of monitoring the ignition interlock device. A person whose

income is above 150 percent of the federal poverty level is required to pay the

surcharge and assume the full cost of installing and monitoring each ignition

interlock device. Under the bill, if a person who is ordered to do so fails to pay the

surcharge or fails to have an ignition interlock device installed, he or she may not

obtain an occupational license.

Under the bill, a court may order a person who removes, disconnects, tampers

with, or otherwise circumvents the operation of an ignition interlock device to be