Offenses related to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, releasing persons arrested for offenses related to 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, 2013, 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, 2013, $10,000,000 from revenues generated by the wine and liquor tax are deposited into the intoxicated and drugged drivers 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 drivers 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 is subject to a court order that requires his or her vehicle to be equipped with an ignition interlock device or if he or she 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, unless the person was convicted of a 3rd or subsequent OWI-related offense. Current law also allows a sentencing court to delay the execution of a sentence of imprisonment for up to 60 days, unless the person was convicted of a third or subsequent OWI-related offense or 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 any 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 for an OWI-related offense 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 arrested for certain OWI-related offenses may not be released from police custody until 12 hours have elapsed from the time of his or her arrest or unless a chemical test shows that the person has an alcohol concentration of less than 0.04 except that the person may be released to his or her attorney, spouse, relative, or other responsible adult (responsible party) at any time after arrest.

Under this bill, a person may be released to a responsible party if the responsible party signs a form acknowledging that he or she accepts legal responsibility for the actions of the arrested person for 12 hours after the time the person was arrested and that, if the arrested person is arrested for another OWI-related offense within that period, the responsible party may be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor. In addition, the bill requires a law enforcement officer to seize or immobilize the vehicle used in the incident that gave rise to the arrest for 12 hours, except that, if the vehicle is the only vehicle owned or leased by any member of the arrested person's household, the officer may release the vehicle to a member of the household.

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.