Mandatory period of confinement for homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and providing a criminal penalty. (FE)

If the person has no prior convictions, operator's license suspensions, or operator's license revocations related to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, he or she is guilty of a Class D felony and subject to a maximum fine of $100,000, imprisonment for up to 25 years, or both. If the person has one or more prior convictions, operator's license suspensions, or operator's license revocations related to operating a vehicle while intoxicated, he or she is guilty of a Class C felony and subject to the same maximum fine, imprisonment for up to 40 years, or both.

Under current law, if a person is sentenced to imprisonment for a felony, he or she is sentenced to serve a portion of his or her sentence incarcerated in prison (period of confinement) and a portion of his or her sentence under extended supervision in the community. Current law does not generally require a minimum period of confinement for a person who is sentenced to imprisonment for a felony.

However, there are exceptions, including some minimum periods of confinement for persons who are sentenced to imprisonment for committing a seventh or subsequent offense related to operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Under this bill, a person who is convicted of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle must be sentenced to imprisonment and his or her period of confinement must be at least seven years. Under the bill, if the decedent was a passenger in the person's car, a court may sentence the person to less than the minimum if the court finds that the best interests of the community will be served and that the public will not be harmed. If the court sentences a person to less than the minimum, the bill requires the court to put its findings in writing.