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

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.

The bill requires counties to seek reimbursement from persons sentenced to a county jail or placed on probation and confined in jail.

4. Currently, revenues generated from the wine and liquor tax are deposited into the general fund.

Under this bill, beginning on July 1, 2011, $10,000,000 from revenues generated by the wine and liquor tax are deposited into the intoxicated and drugged driver fund. The bill requires the Department of Administration, the Public Defender Board, the Department of Health Services, and the director of state courts to prepare budget requests that would allocate funds from the intoxicated and drugged driver trust fund to pay costs incurred by district attorneys, public defenders, circuit courts, and counties in relation to prosecuting first OWI-related offenses and providing treatment programs for offenders.

5. Under current law, no person may operate a motor vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration. For most operators, the prohibited alcohol concentration is 0.08 or more. However, if a person has committed three or more OWI-related violations, the prohibited alcohol concentration for that person is 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 a first or second OWI-related offense.

6. Under current law, a trial court may, at its discretion, release a person who has been convicted of a crime from imprisonment until the time of sentencing.

Current law also allows a sentencing court to delay the execution of a sentence of imprisonment for up to 60 days, unless the court finds that there is legal cause to delay the execution of the sentence for a longer period or unless the court places the person on probation.

Under this bill, if a person has been convicted of an OWI-related offense, and the conviction carries a minimum period of imprisonment, a court may not release the person after conviction but before sentencing until after the person has served at least the minimum period of imprisonment. Under the bill, a court may not delay the execution of a sentence of imprisonment unless the court finds that there is legal cause to delay the execution of the sentence or unless the court places the person on probation.

7. 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.

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.