Report Title:

DUI; Elevated Alcohol Concentration

Description:

Establishes increased licensing and vehicle registration penalties for persons who drive with alcohol concentration of .15 or more.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2191

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to driving under the influence of alcohol.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Section 291E-33, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:

"(c) Whenever a respondent under this section is a repeat intoxicated driver, or has submitted to a test that establishes the respondent's alcohol concentration was .15 or more, the arresting law enforcement officer shall take possession of the motor vehicle registration and, if the motor vehicle being driven by the respondent is registered to the respondent, remove the number plates and issue a temporary motor vehicle registration and temporary number plates for the motor vehicle. No temporary motor vehicle registration or temporary number plates shall be issued if the respondent's registration has expired or been revoked. The applicable police department, upon determining that the respondent is a repeat intoxicated driver, shall notify the appropriate county director of finance to enter a stopper on the motor vehicle registration files to prevent the respondent from conducting any motor vehicle transactions, except as permitted under this part."

SECTION 2. Section 291E-41, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The periods of administrative revocation with respect to a license and privilege to operate a vehicle, and motor vehicle registration if applicable, that shall be imposed under this part are as follows:

(1) A minimum of three months up to a maximum of one year revocation of license and privilege to operate a vehicle, if the respondent's record shows no prior alcohol enforcement contact or drug enforcement contact during the five years preceding the date the notice of administrative revocation was issued;

(2) A minimum of one year up to a maximum of two years revocation of license and privilege to operate a vehicle and of the registration of any motor vehicle registered to the respondent, if the respondent's record shows one prior alcohol enforcement contact or drug enforcement contact during the five years preceding the date the notice of administrative revocation was issued[;] or if the respondent has submitted to a test that establishes the respondent's alcohol concentration was .15 or more;

(3) A minimum of two years up to a maximum of four years revocation of license and privilege to operate a vehicle and of the registration of any motor vehicle registered to the respondent, if the respondent's record shows two prior alcohol enforcement contacts or drug enforcement contacts during the seven years preceding the date the notice of administrative revocation was issued;

(4) Lifetime revocation of license and privilege to operate a vehicle and of the registration of any motor vehicle registered to the respondent and a lifetime prohibition on any subsequent registration of motor vehicles by the respondent, if the respondent's record shows three or more prior alcohol enforcement contacts or drug enforcement contacts during the ten years preceding the date the notice of administrative revocation was issued; or

(5) For respondents under the age of eighteen years who were arrested for a violation of section 291E-61 or 291E-61.5, revocation of license and privilege to operate a vehicle either for the period remaining until the respondent's eighteenth birthday or, if applicable, for the appropriate revocation period provided in paragraphs (1) to (4) or in subsection (d), whichever is longer and such respondents shall not qualify for a conditional permit;

provided that when more than one administrative revocation, suspension, or conviction arises out of the same arrest, it shall be counted as only one prior alcohol enforcement contact or drug enforcement contact, whichever revocation, suspension, or conviction occurs later[.]; and provided further that if more than one paragraph in this subsection applies, the longest period of administrative revocation with respect to a license and privilege to operate a vehicle shall apply."

SECTION 3. Section 291E-61, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) A person committing the offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant shall be sentenced as follows without possibility of probation or suspension of sentence:

(1) For the first offense, or any offense not preceded within a five-year period by a conviction for an offense under this section or section 291E-4(a):

(A) A fourteen-hour minimum substance abuse rehabilitation program, including education and counseling, or other comparable program deemed appropriate by the court;

(B) Ninety-day prompt suspension of license and privilege to operate a vehicle during the suspension period, or the court may impose, in lieu of the ninety-day prompt suspension of license, a minimum thirty-day prompt suspension of license with absolute prohibition from operating a vehicle and, for the remainder of the ninety-day period, a restriction on the license that allows the person to drive for limited work-related purposes and to participate in substance abuse treatment programs;

(C) Any one or more of the following:

(i) Seventy-two hours of community service work;

(ii) Not less than forty-eight hours and not more than five days of imprisonment; or

(iii) A fine of not less than $150 but not more than $1,000; and

(D) A surcharge of $25 to be deposited into the neurotrauma special fund;

provided that a person committing the offense of operating a vehicle under the influence of an intoxicant with .15 or more grams of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of breath or with .15 or more grams of alcohol per one hundred milliliters or cubic centimeters of blood who would otherwise be sentenced under this paragraph shall be sentenced under paragraph (2);

(2) For an offense that occurs within five years of a prior conviction for an offense under this section or section 291E-4(a) by:

(A) Prompt suspension of license and privilege to operate a vehicle for a period of one year with an absolute prohibition from operating a vehicle during the suspension period;

(B) Either one of the following:

(i) Not less than two hundred forty hours of community service work; or

(ii) Not less than five days but not more than fourteen days of imprisonment of which at least forty-eight hours shall be served consecutively;

(C) A fine of not less than $500 but not more than $1,500; and

(D) A surcharge of $25 to be deposited into the neurotrauma special fund;

(3) For an offense that occurs within five years of two prior convictions for offenses under this section or section 291E-4(a):

(A) A fine of not less than $500 but not more than $2,500;

(B) Revocation of license and privilege to operate a vehicle for a period not less than one year but not more than five years;

(C) Not less than ten days but not more than thirty days imprisonment of which at least forty-eight hours shall be served consecutively; and

(D) A surcharge of $25 to be deposited into the neurotrauma special fund; and

(E) Forfeiture under chapter 712A of the vehicle owned and operated by the person committing the offense, provided that the department of transportation shall provide storage for vehicles forfeited under this subsection; and

(4) Any person eighteen years of age or older who is convicted under this section and who operated a vehicle with a passenger, in or on the vehicle, who was younger than fifteen years of age, shall be sentenced to an additional mandatory fine of $500 and an additional mandatory term of imprisonment of forty-eight hours; provided that the total term of imprisonment for a person convicted under this paragraph shall not exceed the maximum term of imprisonment provided in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3)."

SECTION 4. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun, before its effective date.

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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