Another part of the data evaluates the amount of time that passes between the date of arrest and conviction. In 35 percent of the cases, adjudication took only 30 days. Twenty percent took 31 to 60 days to work their way through the process; 14 percent, 61 to 90 days; 18 percent, 91 to 180 days; and 9 percent, six months to a year. Five percent of cases took more than a year to go through the system.

Search of the records showed some holes in the database operated by the state driver license division, one of two repositories for criminal DUI information in the state: 10 percent of records were missing gender identification; and in 33 percent of the cases, no conviction date was posted to the file.

These kinds of omissions are part of a larger problem of tracking drunken driving offenders through the state's computer systems. Recent news reports and analysis by a subcommittee to a council appointed by Gov. Mike Leavitt show huge errors in the way DUI offenders are charged, sentenced and treated. Much of the problem is a blamed on a confusing and fragmented data system .

The council is trying to find funding for a broader study of these issues, Stephens said.

"Drawing a profile of these people is one of the problems," she said. "The other problem is the difference on sanctions imposed in other courts. We desperately need to find a way to fix it."

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E-mail: lucy@desnews.com