HCS HB 1695, 1742 & 1674 -- DRIVING WHILE INTOXICATED

SPONSOR:  Lipke (Stevenson)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Crime
Prevention by a vote of 7 to 1 with 2 present.

This substitute changes the laws regarding driving while
intoxicated.  In its main provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Specifies that any nonviolent offender who has been
convicted, pled guilty, or been found guilty under Sections
577.010 or 577.012, RSMo, and is incarcerated for the offense may
be required to participate in the Missouri Postconviction Drug
and Alcohol Treatment Program and upon release is required to
complete a department-approved community supervised program or,
if no program is available, to submit to continuous alcohol
monitoring for at least 90 days (Section 217.785);

(2)  Allows any circuit court to establish a DWI docket to
provide an alternative for the disposition of driving while
intoxicated or driving with excessive blood alcohol content cases
when the person operating a motor vehicle has a blood alcohol
content (BAC) of at least .15 or the person has pled guilty to or
has been found guilty of one or more intoxication-related traffic
offenses (Sections 478.001 and 478.007);

(3)  Requires the course of instruction that all municipal judges
must complete to include a review of state laws regarding
intoxication-related offenses, jurisdictional issues related to
those offenses, reporting requirements for courts, and the
required assessment for offenders under the Substance Abuse
Traffic Offender Program (SATOP).  Circuit and municipal court
clerks must retain all records pertaining to intoxication-related
offense convictions for at least 50 years (Section 479.020);

(4)  Requires each municipal judge to adopt a written policy
requiring court personnel to timely report all dispositions of
all charges for intoxication-related traffic offenses to the
central repository and to provide a copy of the policy to the
Office of State Courts Administrator and the State Highway Patrol
(Sections 479.020, 479.170.4, and 479.170.5);

(5)  Specifies that offenses involving operating a motor vehicle
while intoxicated where the defendant has had two or more
previous intoxication-related traffic offenses, had two or more
alcohol-related contacts, or has had a previous intoxication-
related traffic offense and the pending offense resulted in
physical injury to another person will not be cognizable in
municipal court (Section 479.170.2);

(6)  Requires the municipal prosecutor to certify to the
municipal judge that a review of an offender's driving record was
conducted prior to exercising jurisdiction for an intoxication-
related traffic offense.  The review must include a search of the
Missouri Uniform Law Enforcement System (MULES), the Driving
While Intoxicated Tracking System (DWITS), and the driving record
maintained by the Department of Revenue (Section 479.170.3);

(7)  Requires each municipal division of every circuit court to
prepare a report every six months that includes the total number
and disposition of every intoxication-related offense
adjudicated, dismissed, or pending in its division and submit the
report to the circuit court en banc for review and
recommendations (Section 479.170.6);

(8)  Adds a warrant to collect a sample of a person's blood,
breath, saliva, or urine to those warrants which may be executed
(Section 542.286);

(9)  Requires certain offenders to receive credit for time
served for the successful completion of an institutional program
within the Department of Corrections for substance or alcohol
abuse treatment (Section 558.400);

(10)  Requires law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to adopt
a policy to report information for all intoxication-related
offenses to the central repository and to certify the adoption
when applying for any grants administered by the Department of
Public Safety.  Beginning January 1, 2011, the patrol must
maintain regular accountability reports of alcohol-related
arrests, charges, and dispositions based on the data submitted
(Section 577.005);

(11)  Specifies that there is a rebuttable presumption that a
person is drugged if there is any amount of a nonprescribed
controlled substance present in the person (Section 577.010.2);

(12)  Increases the penalty for a person guilty of a driving
while intoxicated offense from a class B misdemeanor to a class A
misdemeanor if the person had a BAC of .15 or more and specifies
that no person who operated a motor vehicle with a BAC of .15 or
more will be granted a suspended imposition of sentence (Section
577.010.3);

(13)  Specifies that for a first offense, unless a person
participates and successfully completes the requirements of a DWI
court or docket, a person who operated a motor vehicle with a BAC
of between .15 and .20 will be imprisoned for at least 48 hours
and a person who operated a motor vehicle with a BAC of .20 or
more will be imprisoned for at least five days (Sections
577.010.3 and 577.012.3);

(14)  Specifies that any person who pleads guilty to driving
while intoxicated or excessive BAC cannot later withdraw that
plea (Sections 577.010.4 and 577.012.4);

(15)  Allows a blood sample to be extracted without consent and
without a warrant from any person suspected of operating a motor
vehicle in an intoxicated condition if the person has refused to
submit to a chemical test.  The blood sample will be admissible
in evidence pursuant to the exigent circumstances exception to
the warrant requirement.  No law enforcement officer who requests
that a blood sample be drawn will be civilly liable for damages
unless for gross negligence or by a willful or wanton act of
omission (Section 577.020.8);

(16)  Changes the definition of "prior offender" by removing the
requirement that the prior intoxication-related traffic offense
must have occurred within five years of the present occurrence
for which the person is being charged (Section 577.023.1);

(17)  Changes the minimum imprisonment from five days to 10 days
for a prior offender and from 10 days to 30 days for a persistent
offender to be eligible for parole or probation unless as a
condition the person performs a specified amount of community
service or participates in a program established under Section
478.007 (Section 577.023.6);

(18)  Requires a municipal court to transfer a case to the
appropriate circuit court after finding a person to be a
persistent, aggravated, or chronic offender (Section 577.023.7);

(19)  Allows courts to search the central repository, DWITS, or
the certified driving record maintained by the Department of
Revenue for prior intoxication-related traffic offenses and
requires any person who has been convicted of, pled guilty to, or
has been found guilty of an intoxication-related traffic offense
to have the record of the offense assessed against his or her
driving record by the department director (Sections 577.023.16
and 577.023.17);

(20)  Specifies that the jurisdiction will be in state court for
any intoxication-related traffic offense where the person has
previously been convicted of, pled guilty to, or has been found
guilty of an intoxication-related traffic offense which caused
bodily injury; the person has, on two or more occasions, been
convicted of, pled guilty to, or has been found guilty of an
intoxication-related traffic offense; and the offense resulted in
death (Section 577.023.18);

(21)  Adds a phlebotomist to the list of medical personnel who
can draw blood for the purpose of determining a person's BAC and
specifies that emergency medical technicians and paramedics can
only draw blood at a hospital (Section 577.029);

(22)  Adds the amount of a controlled substance as admissible
evidence, demonstrated by a chemical analysis of a person's
blood, breath, saliva, or urine, in a trial for any person
alleged to have been driving while intoxicated or under the
influence of controlled substances (Section 577.037);

(23)  Increases the driver's license revocation period from one
year to two years for a person who refuses upon the request of a
law enforcement officer to submit to any test allowed under
Section 577.020 (Section 577.041.3); and

(24)  Specifies that after 10 years a court will enter an order
of expungement if it determines that a person with a first
alcohol-related driving offense has not been convicted of any
subsequent alcohol-related driving offense, has no other
subsequent alcohol-related enforcement contact, and has no other
alcohol-related driving charge or enforcement action pending at
the time of the hearing (Section 577.054).

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of Up to
$536,899 or More in FY 2011, Up to $581,564 or More in FY 2012,
and Up to $582,809 or More in FY 2013.  Estimated Cost on Other
State Funds of $159,040 in FY 2011, $0 in FY 2012, and $0 in
FY 2013.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that the bill is designed to enhance
the state's laws regarding alcohol-related offenses and the
consequences for those offenders.  The state needs accurate,
complete, and timely reporting of alcohol-related offenses by law
enforcement officers and the judicial system.  There needs to be
more severe penalties given to those offenders who refuse a
chemical test or who are found to have a high blood-alcohol
content.  Currently, municipal prosecutors are handling
alcohol-related felony offenses, and the state court system is a
better place for these cases to be heard.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Stevenson; Department
of Public Safety; Michael Boland and J.R. Gitlin, Mothers Against
Drunk Driving; Missouri Family Network; Missouri Baptist
Convention, Christian Life Commission; Judicial Conference of
Missouri; Missouri State Medical Association; State Highway
Patrol; Department of Transportation; Missouri Safety Council; R.
Dale Findlay, Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety; and Robert
McCulloch, St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

OTHERS:  Others testifying on the bill say that there are
unintended consequences by removing some alcohol-related
administrative cases from the municipal courts to the circuit
courts.  A mandatory return to prison upon a violation of parole
or probation is not recommended.

Testifying on the bill were Missouri Municipal League; and
Department of Corrections.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:11 pm