{"id":42003,"date":"2022-02-23T11:43:30","date_gmt":"2022-02-23T18:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/proposed-law-would-allow-coloradans-convicted-of-duis-to-get-licenses-reinstated-sooner\/"},"modified":"2022-02-23T18:43:30","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T18:43:30","slug":"proposed-law-would-allow-coloradans-convicted-of-duis-to-get-licenses-reinstated-sooner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/proposed-law-would-allow-coloradans-convicted-of-duis-to-get-licenses-reinstated-sooner\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed law would allow Coloradans convicted of DUIs to get licenses reinstated sooner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A Colorado State Patrol trooper gives a roadside test. The driver was later cleared of impaired driving. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Coloradans aren\u2019t supposed to be able to drive for at least 30 days.<\/p>\n

A driver\u2019s license is typically revoked for nine months after a first offense, though people can apply for reinstatement with an interlock device after one month. But many people get back behind the wheel earlier than that, driving without a license, in order to get to work or school.<\/p>\n

A proposed law making its way through the state Legislature would accept that reality, its sponsors say, and allow people to immediately apply for reinstatement of their driver\u2019s license with an interlock device after being convicted of a DUI or driving with ability impaired. The interlock device prevents someone from starting their vehicle without first blowing into a breathalyzer to prove they aren\u2019t intoxicated.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 22-55<\/a> is sponsored by Sens. John Cooke, a Greeley Republican, and Chris Hansen, a Denver Democrat, along with Rep. Dylan Roberts, an Avon Democrat, and House Minority Leader Hugh McKean, a Republican from Loveland. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to approve SB 55, sending it to the Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.<\/p>\n

Both of the lead sponsors have law enforcement ties: Cooke is the former Weld County sheriff, while Roberts has worked as a deputy district attorney.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I like to think about (SB 55) is it\u2019s making it safer to drive after a DUI,\u201d Roberts said in an interview. \u201cThis is a way to very reliably ensure that people who have DUI convictions or pending DUI cases are only driving if they\u2019re sober.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides allowing people to apply for license reinstatement sooner, the bill would make another significant change to the way DUIs are prosecuted in Colorado. The bill would mandate 90 days of continuous alcohol monitoring when a person is on probation for a third or subsequent DUI or DWAI conviction.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour fourth DUI conviction, that\u2019s a felony,\u201d Cooke told Newsline, \u201cand this is an incentive to not get that fourth one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under existing Colorado law, a second DUI conviction comes with a mandatory minimum of 10 days in jail, and a third DUI comes with at least 60 days. Both are classified as misdemeanor crimes and are followed by a probationary period of up to two years. A fourth DUI is an automatic felony that comes with a prison sentence of two to five years.<\/p>\n

The idea for SB 55 grew out of a conversation with prosecutors, public defenders and criminal justice reform advocates involved with Colorado\u2019s Sentencing Reform Task Force.<\/p>\n

Fran Lanzer, the executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Colorado, testified at the hearing. Lanzer said he\u2019d posed the question, \u201c\u2018Why don\u2019t we keep people from getting to felony DUI?\u2019 And that was something the whole room could agree on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuous alcohol monitoring involves an ankle bracelet that\u2019s equipped to sense changes in blood alcohol levels through a person\u2019s sweat. The device can transmit information to a probation officer or third-party company.<\/p>\n

A judge has the option to order continuous alcohol monitoring during probation after a second DUI, but it\u2019s not required. While SB 55 would require monitoring in most cases after a third DUI, the bill provides for an exception if the judge determines monitoring would not be \u201cin the interest of justice\u201d or if the person lives in an area where he or she can\u2019t easily acquire a monitoring device.<\/p>\n

A person required to undergo continuous alcohol monitoring must pay the associated costs, which amount to as much as $10 per day of monitoring. If the person is unable to pay, SB 55 clarifies that costs would be paid by the probation department.<\/p>\n

SB 55 would cost $563,000 in the 2022-23 budget year, which begins July 1, and $1.06 million the next year. Most of the money would be needed to pay a company that provides continuous alcohol monitoring.<\/p>\n

Matthew Law, representing a company called Smart Start that sells alcohol monitoring devices, argued during the hearing for an amendment to add remote monitoring devices to the bill as an acceptable alternative to ankle monitors. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Pete Lee, a Colorado Springs Democrat, asked Law to follow up with the bill sponsors.<\/p>\n

Organizations supporting SB 55 include Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the Colorado District Attorneys\u2019 Council and the Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s face it: It\u2019s pretty dangerous when you get behind a couple-thousand-pound vehicle and start driving,\u201d Cooke said. \u201cWe have a lot of accidents up here in Weld County. We usually lead the state in fatal accidents, and a large percentage of those are drunk drivers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we want to keep them off the road, keep them sober and let them go about their busy lives, sober: Taking their kids to school and going to work, and not going out partying and drinking at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

To read more stories from Colorado Newsline, visit www.coloradonewsline.com<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

offense would trigger 90-day continuous monitoring requirement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42004,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,394,94,15,480,28,107],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-42003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-legislature","tag-colorado-state-government","tag-colorado-state-senate","tag-dui","tag-headlines","tag-laws"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42003"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=42003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}