Bills · 2011-2012 Regular Session
making fourth offense operating while intoxicated a felony and providing a penalty.
- Introduced, stopped here
- Passes Assembly, not reached
- Passes Senate, not reached
- Governor signs, not reached
- Law, not reached
Unfamiliar terms? Glossary
What this bill does
Plain-language analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a person who commits an offense relating to operating a
vehicle while intoxicated or under the influence of a controlled substance (OWI) is
subject to a forfeiture or fine and, for a second or subsequent offense, a period of
imprisonment. Penalties increase with each subsequent conviction.
Currently, a person who commits a fourth OWI offense is guilty of a
misdemeanor and may be fined between $600 and $2,000 and may be imprisoned for
not less than 60 days nor more than one year unless the person committed an earlier
OWI offense within five years prior to his or her fourth OWI offense. In that case, the
person is guilty of a Class H felony and is subject to the same penalties as a person
who commits a fifth or sixth OWI offense: a minimum fine of $600, a six-month
minimum term of imprisonment, and a six-year maximum term of imprisonment.
Current law also allows, if the sentencing court is in a county that provides a
treatment-based sentencing option, a person who commits a second, third, or fourth
OWI offense to receive a reduced minimum period of imprisonment if the person
completes a probation period that includes alcohol and other drug treatment.
Under this bill, a person who commits a fourth OWI offense, regardless of the
time elapsed since his or her last prior offense, is guilty of a Class H felony and subject
to the same penalties as a person who commits a fifth or sixth OWI offense: a
minimum fine of $600, a six-month minimum term of imprisonment, and a six-year
maximum term of imprisonment. The bill eliminates, for a person who commits a
fourth OWI offense, the option for a reduced period of imprisonment based on
completing a period of probation that includes alcohol and other drug treatment.
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.
What it would cost
Fiscal estimates filed by state agencies, as official PDFs
Sponsors
Votes
Suspending the rules (to take a vote immediately) needs a two-thirds majority — a higher bar than passing the bill, which needs a simple majority. That's why a suspension motion can show more Ayes than the passage vote that follows it. Glossary
Assembly: Refused to suspend rules to withdraw from committee on Transportation and take up, Ayes 39, Noes 58
Failed 39–58 Mar 13, 2012 official source full pageNo individual roll call was recorded for this vote. Committee votes and some older sessions record totals only.
Full history
- Dec 7, 2011 · Assembly
Introduced by Representatives Staskunas, J. Ott, Jacque, Kerkman, Zepnick, Berceau, Bernard Schaber, Steinbrink and Richards;Cosponsored by Senators Carpenter and S. Coggs
- Dec 7, 2011 · Assembly
Read first time and referred to committee on Transportation
- Dec 16, 2011 · Assembly
Fiscal estimate received
- Dec 19, 2011 · Assembly
Fiscal estimate received
- Dec 27, 2011 · Assembly
Fiscal estimate received
- Jan 4, 2012 · Assembly
Fiscal estimate received
- Mar 13, 2012 · Assembly
Refused to suspend rules to withdraw from committee on Transportation and take up, Ayes 39, Noes 58
- Mar 23, 2012 · Assembly
Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1