AB 547

This bill makes a number of changes relating to operating a vehicle while under

the influence of an intoxicant (OWI-related offense), including the following:

1. Under current law, a first OWI-related offense is a civil violation. A person

who commits a first OWI-related offense is subject to a forfeiture of not less than

$150 nor more than $300. Subsequent OWI-related offenses are crimes punishable

by fines and periods of imprisonment that increase with every subsequent offense.

Under this bill, a person who commits a first OWI-related offense on or after

July 1, 2011 is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and may be fined not more than $500,

imprisoned for not more than 30 days, or both.

Under the bill, if a person is subject to a minimum period of imprisonment for

any OWI-related offense, the person is not eligible for home detention, good time,

release from jail for employment, transfer to a county work camp, release to perform

community service except under special circumstances, probation, or diminution of

the sentence until he or she serves at least the minimum period of time in jail or

prison.

2. Under current law, with few exceptions, a law enforcement officer may not

stop a motor vehicle without reasonable cause to believe that the operator of the

motor vehicle has violated a law or ordinance.

This bill requires the law enforcement standards board (LESB) to establish

rules for a sobriety checkpoint program and requires local law enforcement agencies

to comply with the rules whenever they conduct a sobriety checkpoint. When a law

enforcement agency conducts a sobriety checkpoint, drivers are briefly stopped

without individualized suspicion that they may be intoxicated, and drivers who

demonstrate some level of impairment or other signs of drug or alcohol use are

detained for additional testing and possible arrest.

The bill requires the LESB rules to ensure that drivers are stopped in a neutral,

nondiscretionary manner and that the initial stops are conducted in a way that

minimizes the disruption of traffic flow and minimizes the amount of time the driver

is stopped. The rules must also ensure that the sobriety checkpoint has fixed

beginning and ending times, and is publicized before it is conducted. The rules must

ensure that, at the sobriety checkpoint, approaching drivers are given adequate

warning that a sobriety checkpoint is underway, and that officers clearly identify

themselves and explain the purpose of the sobriety checkpoint to each driver they

stop. Finally, the rules must establish criteria for determining which drivers may

be detained beyond the initial stop to undergo testing for intoxication.

3. Under current law, counties may seek reimbursement from persons who are

sentenced to a county jail or placed on probation and confined in jail, for the costs the

counties incur in relation to the crime for which the persons are sentenced to jail or

placed on probation. The counties may also seek reimbursement from other sources,

but they cannot collect for the same costs twice.