Search results for category: Kansas DUI

Kansas Cuts DUI Program Funds

Treatment of repeat offenders of drunk driving in Kansas will be limited.

The funds used to treat repeat offenders for driving under the influence in Kansas have been cut by 70% by state legislators. Last the past fiscal year the state spent approximately $1.2 million to treat drivers convicted of their fourth KS DUI. The funds have been slashed to $416,000, according to the director of addiction and prevention services for the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

Because the number of people requiring treatment will likely not change, there will probably be a reduction in the treatment period from twelve months to three. Professionals working with addiction say that the length of engagement is critical for effectiveness, and that a shortening of the programs could cause a rise in recidivism.

The decision to cut the funds comes after the passage of a new law requiring those with a third DUI conviction, rather than the fourth, to enter an alcohol treatment program. That is expected to add as many as 200 people to the rolls of those under treatment. Participants in the program may be required to pay some of the expenses. State lawmakers and officials hope local resources can fill in the gaps.

Treatment professionals, corrections officials and a few lawmakers hope that public safety concerns will help resurrect the funds and thus the DUI treatment programs. The issue could become one of the focuses of a new Kansas DUI commission established to review the state’s drunk driving laws.

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Kansas Considers Ignition Interlocks for All DUI Offenders

Proposed legislation would penalize even first offenders of KS DUI.

The state legislature has announced House Bill 2315 that will require all motorists convicted of driving under the influence in Kansas to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle. Ignition interlocks act as mini-breathalyzers, measuring a driver’s blood alcohol content before a vehicle can be started. If the BAC exceeds a certain limit the ignition is disabled.

Current Kansas DUI law requires the devices for repeat drunk driving offenders. The new law will require them for even first offenders. Proponents say the approach will reduce DUI related accidents, citing reported lower death rates in states that have enacted similar laws. Opponents of the law, like the American Beverage Institute, say that the law makes no distinction between the social drinker who had one sip beyond the legal limit for intoxication and the average chronic drunk driver who usually has a BAC twice the legal limit. The ABI says the focus should be on identifying and treating the hard-core alcohol abusers who are repeat drunk driving offenders.

An ignition interlock device costs about a $1000 a year to install and maintain. The cost is paid for by the motorist.

The measure is expected to be passed out of committee for consideration by the full Kansas House. It is one of several Kansas DUI measures being considered by the legislature.

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Man Must Put DUI Sticker on Car

WICHITA, Feb. 20 – Ever since Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost started his rotation through traffic court, he’s been making headlines. First he exercised a little used option to send first-time DUI offenders to jail, now he’s hit a repeat offender with a modern day version of the Scarlet Letter by making him publicly identify himself every time he gets behind the wheel .

Curtis Mollinelli, 36, was sentenced Friday afternoon for his fifth DUI in the last five years and his eighth DUI conviction in his 20 years of driving. Yost sentenced Mollenelli to jail time, fined him, ordered him into alcohol treatment and gave him a window sticker identifying him as a DUI offender. Mollenelli will have to display the sticker in any car he drives for the two years he’s on probation. The sticker comes off easily so Mollenelli can move it with him from car to car, and so anyone else who drives Mollenelli’s car won’t be branded as a DUI offender.

Mary Ann Khoury, who runs the DUI Victim Center in Wichita, says the sentence is about safety and education. “I think the community wants to know who the drunk drivers are on our roads.â€

Mollenelli agrees he should pay for what he’s done, and calls his sentence “fair.†He says he hopes it will help other people learn from his mistakes. Yost wouldn’t comment on the sentence, but from the bench he said Mollenelli would benefit from a daily reminder of his probation. If Mollenelli doesn’t use the sticker when driving, his probation will be revoked and he’ll serve a year behind bars.

Tags: DUI News |  Kansas DUI

Kansas DUI Penalties are Severe

Kansas DUI Penalties are Severe

There is no question that drunk driving can lead to injury and even loss of life, and that should be enough incentive to take responsibility. The Kansas Legislature recently enacted measures designed to further deter drunk driving by raising fines and mandating harsh penalties.

For the first Kansas DUI arrest there is a $500-1,000 fine and automatic jail time. The fine increases to a minimum $2,500 fine by the fourth DUI offense. That fourth DUI arrest can also mean the permanent suspension of a driver’s license.

While the first and second DUI convictions are still misdemeanors, subsequent DUI arrests will be prosecuted as felonies.

There is a new $1,500 fine and at least 90 days of jail time if you refuse to submit to a breath test or provide a blood sample.

A Kansas DUI arrest also incurs financial burdens in the form of safe driving programs, court costs, counseling or rehabilitation, auto insurance, car impound and attorney’s fees.

Your arrest record will now remain in the public domain too. A Kansas DUI attorney could get those records sealed five years after an offense. The new legislation takes away the possibility of getting prior convictions expunged.

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