Requiring ignition interlock devices for certain motor vehicle violations, granting rule-making authority, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty

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 imprisoned for not more than six months for a first offense. The bill also subjects a person who fails to have an ignition interlock device installed as ordered by the court to the same penalties as a person who removes, disconnects, tampers with, or otherwise circumvents the operation of an ignition interlock device.