KEEP REPEAT D.U.I. OFFENDERS OFF OUR ROADWAYS!
Summit County needs your support!
A person is killed in an alcohol related traffic crash every 43
minutes in this country. We, as a community, need to work together
to bring these statistics down.
I recently indicted a case where the offender had 18 previous
convictions for D.U.I. Why is this person on our streets?
Our current law provides that the first three D.U.I. convictions are
misdemeanor offenses. If the offender has three or more prior D.U.I.
convictions within the past six years, the fourth D.U.I. is a felony
with a maximum penalty of two and one-half years in prison. If the
offender has a prior felony conviction for D.U.I., the next D.U.I.
is a third degree felony with a maximum penalty of five years. The
only mandatory penalty for D.U.I. offenders under our current law is
either a 60 day or 120 day sentence, depending on the defendant’s
alcohol level. In the case of a habitual offender, this law does not
protect the residents of Summit County.
Senator Leigh Herington and I have proposed a bill that D.U.I.
offenders with five or more prior convictions shall receive a felony
and mandatory prison of one to five years. The prosecutor will add a
specification onto the indictment and this prison term would be in
addition to the offender’s basic prison term. Our goal is to put the
habitual drunk driver in prison before the offender has the
opportunity to injure or kill a resident of our county.
Please sign the petition in support of this bill to prevent habitual
drunk drivers from driving on our roadways. The life you save could
be your own. |
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Sherri Bevan Walsh
Prosecuting Attorney,
County of Summit |
(c) Copyright County of Summit 2005. All rights reserved.
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