HB87 Alabama 2010 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Spencer Collier

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2010

Title

Driving under the influence, prior convictions defined for purposes of second or subsequent offenses, mandatory minimum imprisonment increased for fourth or subsequent offenses, penalties for offenders with .15 percent alcohol increased, fines within certain periods to conform, Sec. 32-5A-191 am'd.

Description

Under existing law, there are no additional penalties for driving under the influence with an extreme percentage of blood alcohol content. Also, the law provides that a person convicted of a third offense receives a mandatory minimum sentence greater than that for a fourth offense. Also, the law has been judicially interpreted to prohibit consideration of prior convictions older than years for purposes of habitual offender sentencing.

This bill would double the minimum sentence for a person convicted of DUI who has 0.15 percent or greater by weight of alcohol in his or her blood, thereby satisfying one of the programmatic criteria for federal grant eligibility under the federal "Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users" (SAFETEA-LU). In addition, this bill would increase the minimum mandatory sentence for a fourth offense from 10 days to 120 days not subject to probation or suspension; clarify that any prior conviction, regardless of date and regardless of whether it was in-state or out-of-state, will count as a prior conviction for purposes of sentencing repeat offenders; and would make technical corrections.

Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, now appearing as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, as amended, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose.

The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the amendment. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the amendment.

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Subjects

Crimes and Offenses