Ohio DUI legislation

The Ohio General Assembly last Tuesday passed sweeping legislation cracking down on DUIs in this state. (Text)(Analysis)

The new law, once signed by Gov. Strickland, includes requiring repeat offenders to install $90-a-month ignition “interlocks” on their cars – the seventh state to have that kind of provision – and creates a public, online “habitual OVI offender” database for persons having five or more drunk-driving charges.

Fines are increased from $325 to $375 for the first offense now, $525 for a second offense within six years of the first, and $850 for a third within that six year period. Fines for more than three offenses increases from $1,300 to $1,350.

Of the 250, 000 Ohio DUIs with at least one arrest, some 44 % have multiple convictions, according to an Enquirer article last week. An accompanying graphic by the Ohio Department of Public Safety indicated that roughly 1/3rd of those charged with drunken driving in Hamilton, Lucas, Wood and Franklin Counties were repeat offenders. That estimate was around 50% for 11 other counties, with Adams County having the highest percentage of prior convictions (57 %); neighboring Brown and Highland Counties were second & third. (See Map)