Operating a vehicle while intoxicated, granting rule-making authority, making an appropriation, and providing a penalty

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 one-half of the cost 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.

2. Current law defines a "prohibited alcohol concentration" as an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more if the person has two or fewer prior OWI-related convictions, suspensions, or revocations. If the person has three or more prior OWI-related convictions, suspensions, or revocations, the prohibited alcohol concentration is defined as an alcohol concentration of more than 0.02.

This bill adds a definition of a prohibited alcohol concentration as an alcohol concentration of more than 0.02 for the two-year period after a person has committed an OWI offense.

3. Under current law, a person who is subject to a forfeiture or a fine for violating most state laws or local ordinances is also liable for a variety of penalty surcharges and court fees. In addition, a person who commits an OWI-related offense is liable for a penalty surcharge for driver improvement programs and is required to comply with an alcohol and other drug assessment before he or she is eligible for reinstatement of his or her driving privileges.

Currently, a person who commits his or her first OWI-related offense and who has a blood alcohol concentration between 0.08 and 0.099 at the time of the offense is not liable for the surcharges or fees and does not need to comply with an alcohol or other drug assessment program. Further, the Department of Transportation (DOT) must purge its records of a first offense related to driving while intoxicated after ten years; the department keeps all other records of offenses related to driving while intoxicated permanently.

Under this bill, a person who commits his or her first OWI-related offense and who has a blood alcohol concentration between 0.08 and 0.099 at the time of the violation is liable for the surcharges or fees and must comply with an alcohol or other drug assessment program before his or her driving privileges may be reinstated.

Under this bill, DOT must keep a record of this offense permanently.

4. Under current law, a person who commits an OWI-related offense is subject to a forfeiture or fine and, for a second or subsequent offense, a period of imprisonment. Currently, a person who commits a second OWI-related offense is subject to a fine between $350 and $1,100 and may be imprisoned for not less than five days nor more than six months, a person who commits a third offense is subject to a fine between $600 and $2,000 and may be imprisoned for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, a person who commits a fourth offense may be fined between $600 and $2,000 and may be imprisoned for not less than 60 days nor more than one year.

Upon committing a fifth or sixth OWI-related offense, a person is guilty of a Class H felony, and is subject to a minimum fine of $600, a six-month minimum term of imprisonment, and a maximum term of imprisonment of six years. A seventh, eighth, or ninth OWI-related offense is a Class G felony, and the person is subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 and a maximum term of imprisonment of ten years.

A tenth or subsequent OWI-related offense is a Class F felony, and the person is subject to a maximum fine of $25,000, and a maximum term of imprisonment of 12 years and six months.

Under current law, a person who is sentenced for a felony is sentenced to a bifurcated sentence, and the person serves a portion of his or her sentence confined in a prison and a portion under extended supervision outside of prison.

This bill makes a fourth OWI-related offense committed within five years of a prior offense a Class H felony and requires a person who commits a fourth, fifth, or sixth OWI-related offense to serve a minimum of two years in prison under a bifurcated sentence. The bill requires a person who commits a seventh, eighth, or ninth OWI-related offense to serve a minimum of three years in prison under a bifurcated sentence and a person who commits a tenth or subsequent OWI-related offense to serve a minimum of four years in prison under a bifurcated sentence.

5. Under current law, a person who commits an OWI-related offense and causes injury to another is subject to a fine of not less than $300 nor more than $2,000, imprisonment for not less than 30 days nor more than one year, or both.

Under this bill, a person who commits a second or subsequent OWI-related offense and causes injury to another person is guilty of a Class H felony, and is subject to a fine up to $10,000, imprisonment for not more than six years, or both.

6.

2005 Wisconsin Act 389 created a pilot program for sentencing persons in Winnebago County who are convicted of certain second or third OWI-related offenses. Under that act, the period of imprisonment for an OWI-related offense in Winnebago County may be reduced if the violator successfully completes a period of probation that includes alcohol and other drug treatment. A person may complete a treatment program and receive a reduced period of imprisonment only once.

This bill expands the sentencing option to any county that opts to allow a violator to successfully complete a period of probation that includes alcohol and other drug treatment in exchange for a shorter period of imprisonment.

7. Under current law, a person who commits an OWI-related offense has his or her operating privileges revoked for a specified period. The period of revocation lengthens with each subsequent OWI-related offense, and generally begins on the date on which the person commits the OWI-related offense.

Under this bill, the period of revocation begins on the date on which the person commits the OWI-related offense, but is tolled for any time period that the person spends in jail or in prison. The bill makes the person whose operating privileges are revoked responsible for notifying DOT that he or she has been released from jail or prison.

8. Under current law, after a person is convicted of most crimes, the trial court may withhold the person's sentence, or impose a sentence of imprisonment but stay the imposition of imprisonment, and place the person on probation for a period of time. If the crime carries a mandatory minimum period of incarceration of one year or less, the person must be incarcerated for at least the mandatory minimum period as a condition of his or her probation.

Under current law, a trial court may not place a person on probation if the person has committed a second or third OWI-related offense or three or fewer offenses related to operating a commercial vehicle or causing injury while operating a vehicle while intoxicated or with a prohibited alcohol concentration. A trial court may place a person who commits more than three of these offenses on probation under current law.

Under this bill, a trial court may place a person who commits any of those offenses on probation. Under the bill, a person who commits an offense that carries a mandatory minimum period of incarceration of one year or less must be incarcerated for at least the mandatory minimum period as a condition of his or her probation.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.