Utah's lawmakers pass DUI measure unanimously

Lawmakers on Monday unanimously passed a bill to fortify the system that tracks drunken drivers and increase accountability in DUI cases.

Earlier in the day, Republican lawmakers hosted a news conference to put the issue at the top of their list of priorities alongside the looming budget crunch.

"We are trying to curb these problems as quickly as we can," House Speaker Marty Stephens, R-Farr West, told reporters and others gathered at the Utah Capitol.

"As we researched and discussed the problems with the current DUI system, it became clear that our system lacked accountability and consistency with DUI records," said Lamont Tyler, R-Salt Lake City, sponsor of HB5002.

After a few questions and supportive comments, substitute HB5002 passed 71-0 in the House and 22-0 in the Senate. Gov. Mike Leavitt is expected to sign it.

Tyler said his bill accomplishes three important goals:

• It requires all justice courts, run by cities and counties, to collect and report the same DUI data currently collected by state courts.

• It establishes a single, statewide database within the Utah Department of Public Safety where DUI records and data are stored.

• It creates accountability by requiring the Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice to prepare an annual DUI report based on information received from the courts. This factor is the backbone for creating accountability in Utah's broken system for tracking, charging, sentencing and treating DUI offenders, said Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Salt Lake City.

"We intend to keep watching this issue," Walker told her Senate colleagues. She was a member of Gov. Mike Leavitt's Council on Drunk Driving before it was disbanded and its duties dispersed to state agencies this spring.

The council forwarded to lawmakers three bills in the 2001 session and eight more bills in 2002. All passed. "I hope we keep coming with bills like this that will make it tougher and tougher on DUI offenders until we are the toughest state on DUI in the country," Walker said.

Prosecutors and lawmakers hinted there would be more legislation next session to further chip away at the bureaucratic side of DUI.

Late in the day, Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, withdrew an amendment that could have derailed Tyler's bill — a provision that would have amounted to a strict requirement for prosecutors.