Gov. Nixon touts DWI legislation at Jackson appearance

Law enforcement agencies across the state will be required to report drunken-driving arrests to the state highway patrol if a bill being touted by the governor becomes law.

Gov. Jay Nixon visited Jackson on Wednesday as part of a statewide tour to announce details of a bill aimed at closing loopholes to keep repeat drunken drivers off the road.

The legislation, among other things, would require that all DWIs be tracked in a more efficient way. This will be accomplished by requiring all jurisdictions to enter DWI arrests and case information to the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Driving While Intoxicated Tracking System. Jurisdictions that fail to do that could see grant funding withheld.

According to a governor's office spokesman, currently 234 law enforcement agencies have administrative authority to voluntarily enter into the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Driving While Intoxicated Tracking System. Additionally, 30 county prosecutors and 16 city prosecutors also have authority, but none of them is required to do so.

Locally, Cape Girardeau County law enforcement agencies already use the system.

Across the state, however, some prosecuting attorney offices didn't even know the system existed, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said, and many others were not using it. This resulted in some repeat offenders being charged with misdemeanors instead of felonies.

Nixon said the requirement is a low-cost solution to keeping track of repeat offenders. He said police already have to enter the data somewhere. He added that it makes sense for the data to be stored in a central database.

The legislation also requires that repeat DWI offenders, and those who refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test be charged in a state court as opposed to a municipal court. This will create more uniform punishments and "the most rigorous standards" across the state for repeat offenders, according to a news release issued by the governor's office.

According to the governor's news release, the bill will also:

• make it a crime for any driver to refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test.
• expand the use of ignition-interlock devices on first-time offenders for those who refuse a blood-alcohol test or have an alcohol level of 0.15, which is almost twice the legal limit.
• eliminate the provision under current law that allows DWI offenders to have their records expunged after 10 years without another offense.
• prohibiting a defendant from withdrawing a guilty plea for DWI when reaching the end of his probation under a suspended imposition of sentence.

In addition to Swingle, several law enforcement officials attended the news conference in support of the governor, including Cape Girardeau County Sheriff John Jordan, Cape Girardeau police chief Carl Kinnison and Jackson police chief James Humphreys. Each of the local law enforcement agencies recognized officers who had the highest total DWI arrests in 2009.

The governor said the bill has bipartisan support.

The legislation will be sponsored by Rep. Bryan Stevenson, R-Joplin, and co-sponsored by Rep. Rachel Bringer, D-Palmyra, a former prosecutor.

Swingle said he was encouraged that the governor's office is taking the lead on this bill. He said the idea of tougher DWI laws have been brought up over the years but that not much has been done.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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