Hannibal, MO – Governor Jay Nixon says Missouri's current laws do not protect families from the threats posed by drunk drivers. He is pushing a series of proposals aimed at aggressive prosecution, tougher sentences, and strict accountability.
The reform package is the result of a DWI summit convened on November 4. It included law enforcement agents, judges, prosecutors, and victims' advocates.
Nixon wants to see enhanced penalties for offenders with blood-alcohol levels of .15 or above and the elimination of a provision that expunges a DWI offender's record if they go ten years without another offense. He says the reform package will also crackdown on those who refuse to submit to a blood alcohol test.
"We just can't tolerate that," says Nixon, "you can't be in a legal situation where the smartest thing to do is to refuse the most certain test given right at the same time that you were driving."
Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Shinn says he and his deputies continually run into that when dealing with drunk drivers.
"They know and understand that just because they refuse a B.A.C.," says Shinn, "that is no crime whatsoever. So they can refuse it as one of their strategies to show in the court proceedings that I refused to submit to the test so how do you know I was intoxicated.'"
Governor Nixon says to combat that, drivers who refuse to take the blood-alcohol test should face criminal charges, be tried in state court, and be required to use an ignition-interlock device. He also wants all arrests for driving while intoxicated to be entered into the Missouri State Highway Patrol's DWI Tracking System.
Representative Bryan Stevenson (R-Joplin) chairs the Missouri House Judiciary Committee. His goal is to have a bill to the governor's desk by the end of the upcoming legislative session.
The Missouri Legislature begins its 2010 session on Jan. 6.
Stevenson will sponsor the legislation in the Missouri House of Representatives while Representative Rachel Bringer (D-Palmyra) will serve as a co-sponsor. The measures were unveiled during an event at Hannibal's City Hall.