5TH DRUNKEN DRIVING OFFENSE COULD SOON MEAN PRISON TIME

Hundreds of repeat drunken drivers a year would be labeled felons and
face possible time in state prison under a tough new legislative plan
awaiting Gov. Tommy Thompson's signature.

The changes would mean that upon the fifth offense and after,
operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated would carry a possible
five-year prison stay. Currently, drunken driving is a misdemeanor
punishable by a maximum one year in jail.

The plan also would do away with a break now given to many repeat OWI
offenders with offenses older than 10 years. That would open even more
of the state's worst problem drivers to a felony charge.

The changes -- added without fanfare this month to the
budget-adjustment bill -- appear to have no organized opposition, and
are in the hands of a governor who has talked about the problem of
repeat offenders.

Thompson hasn't yet reviewed the plan in detail but "supports the
intent," Thompson spokesman Kevin Keane said.

The biggest concern is the potentially hefty price tag for creating
prison room for OWI convicts if judges routinely elect to incarcerate
convicts for more than a year. That lands them in prison instead of
jail.
Supporters, though, are hailing the plan as a long-overdue stiffening
of penalties that would delay chronic offenders' return to the road
and perhaps deter the public from mixing booze and driving.

More than 4,600 drivers already have four or more drunken-driving
convictions in Wisconsin, putting them at risk for the felony charge
at their next slip, state transportation records show. Last year
alone, counties won almost 500 convictions in cases in which it was
the fifth or more drunken-driving offense.

Convictions from other states wouldn't count.

One prosecutor, Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher, is so
eager to recommend prison time that he asked a reporter Monday whether
Thompson had signed the measure so he could use it against a six-time
offender arrested there recently.

"We've seen a marked increase in the number of multiple offenders,"
Bucher said. Judges and prosecutors have expressed frustration that
jail penalties do not increase after the third offense.

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Kitty Brennan and Waukesha County
Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis both called the move a welcome change.

Under the changes, prosecutors would have little choice but to use the
felony charge against fifth offenders, and plea bargains are uncommon
in such cases. The mandatory minimum penalty would remain unchanged
for such offenders -- six months in jail. The new rules would start
next year.

"If you choose to drive this loaded weapon indiscriminately down the
highway, you will face the consequences," state Sen. Gary Drzewiecki
(R-Pulaski), lead supporter of the changes, said Monday. The full
Senate passed the changes in March, and they were pending in the
Assembly when supporters decided to insert them into the budget bill.

Another key backer, Sen. Joanne Huelsman (R-Waukesha), predicted that
legislators would move in a future legislative session to make a
fourth offense a felony.

It could cost $15 million to $41 million to construct enough prison
space to house drunken-driving convicts in state prison, according to
state fiscal analysts. The true cost depends on what judges do. More
trials are expected as well, which would increase payments to state
public defenders.

Under current law, drunken-driving convictions are not held against
some repeat drunken drivers if the incident occurred more than 10
years earlier. That would change for thousands who committed a second
offense under the plan on Thompson's desk.

Drivers would get just one mistake, which would be wiped clean if they
go 10 years without another conviction. Repeat offenses would stay on
their record, and upon a third offense and after, any earlier offense
could be used against them.

The Department of Transportation's computer database dates only to
1989, however, so all earlier offenses still would not show up on the
record.

A third change, adopted in the plan, would require that the vehicles
of OWI convicts be seized, impounded or equipped with ignition
interlock devices upon the third offense. Judges have that option now.

Checked-by: trikydik@inil.com (trikydik)