This Fiscal Note is not an official copy and should not be quoted or cited.
This Fiscal Note is not an official copy and should not be quoted or cited.
Fiscal Note - SB 0018 - Creates crime of aggravated driving with excessive blood alcohol content of .15%
COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH
OVERSIGHT DIVISION
FISCAL NOTE
L.R. NO.: 0521-08
BILL NO.: SCS for SBs 18, 49 and 167
SUBJECT: Motor Vehicle; Crimes and Punishments; Alcohol
TYPE: Original
DATE: April 13, 1999
FISCAL SUMMARY
|
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON STATE FUNDS | |||
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2000 | FY 2001 | FY 2002 |
| Highway Fund | ($7,285) | $0 | $0 |
| Total Estimated
Net Effect on All State Funds |
($7,285) | $0 | $0 |
|
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON FEDERAL FUNDS | |||
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2000 | FY 2001 | FY 2002 |
| None | |||
| Total Estimated
Net Effect on All Federal Funds |
$0 | $0 | $0 |
|
ESTIMATED NET EFFECT ON LOCAL FUNDS | |||
| FUND AFFECTED | FY 2000 | FY 2001 | FY 2002 |
| Local Government | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Numbers within parentheses: ( ) indicate costs or losses
This fiscal note contains 5 pages.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
ASSUMPTION
Officials of the Department of Public Safety - Missouri State Highway Patrol and Office of Prosecution Services assume this proposal would have no fiscal impact to their agencies.
In response to previous versions of this proposal, officials of the Office of the Attorney General assumed this proposal would have no fiscal impact to their agency.
Officials of the State Public Defender (SPD) stated that in FY98 the SPD provided representation in 54 DWI second offenses. If just 1/3 of these cases now desired a trial, 720 additional attorney hours would be required. For the purposes of this proposal, SPD officials assume that existing staff could provide representation for those cases. However, passage of more than one similar bill would require the State Public Defender System to request increased appropriations to cover the cumulative cost of representing the indigent accused. Appropriations are typically requested through the increased trial division caseload decision item in the SPD's Legislative Budget Request.
Officials of the Department of Revenue's (DOR) Drivers License Bureau assume this proposal would create a new crime of aggravated driving with excessive BAC of .18% and mandates that twelve points be assessed for this new conviction type. DOR could administratively suspend/revoke an offender's driving privilege for a .18% BAC alcohol related enforcement contact. An offender would not be eligible for a limited driving privilege until the first thirty days of a suspension or revocation had been served and would be required to complete SATOP before having the driving privilege reinstated. This proposal would also clarify that only individuals under the age of 21 and suspended under the zero tolerance provisions could have that record expunged when they attained the age of 21 if the BAC was between .02% and .09%.
DOR officials stated that Missouri law requires their department to make all Alcohol Influence Report (AIR) forms available to law enforcement agencies. Therefore, the provisions of this proposal would require modification to the AIR to accommodate the change in the BAC level. A supply of revised forms must be distributed to each law enforcement entity. Therefore, the provisions of this proposal would result in a forms and postage cost in the amount of $3,565 in FY 2000. In addition, this division would also incur state data center costs in the amount of $3,720 to implement the provisions of this proposal.
ASSUMPTION (continued)
Officials of the State Courts Administrator (CTS) would anticipate an increase in the number of appeals as a result of this proposal. CTS officials would not expect a significant impact on the judicial budget. CTS officials also indicated that there could be a slight increase in the number of cases filed and an impact on local jail populations related to the expanded open container law; however, they would not anticipate any significant impact on costs to the judiciary from this provision. Overall, CTS officials would not expect this proposal to significantly impact the budget of the judiciary.
Officials of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) stated that this proposal seems to comply with the TEA 21 mandates for Open Container laws. However, there is a non-compliance issue regarding Repeat Offender and .08 BAC laws.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a state must pass a .08 BAC law in order to be eligible for additional federal funding that could be used for highway safety or highway construction programs. This .08 BAC law must replace either the .10 BAC laws on the books or be the threshold for a determination of a DWI. This proposal does neither of these things. Therefore, Missouri would not be eligible for additional federal grant moneys under TEA 21.
Under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Restoration Act, a new program was established that requires states to enact Repeat Intoxicated Drivers laws. Any state which does not have a repeat intoxicated driver law by October 1, 2000, would have one and one-half percent of their federal surface transportation funds transferred from their highway construction program to their highway safety program. If there is no repeat intoxicated drivers law by October 1, 2002, this transfer would increase to three percent. For FY's 2001 and 2002, this amounts to a loss of approximately $6.1 million in federal highway funds. For FY 2003 and beyond, this transfer amounts to $12.5 million.
Officials of the Department of Corrections (DOC) assume this proposal would not establish felony provisions for the crime of aggravated driving with excessive BAC It would appear to target mostly probationers who were treated in the community. There could be some impact with respect to increased responsibilities for the Board of Probation and Parole to monitor compliance activities with offenders sentenced to probation by the court. Supervision provided by the Board of Probation and Parole averages $3.50 per offender, per day.
ASSUMPTION (continued)
Supervision by the DOC through probation would result in some additional costs, but DOC officials assume that the impact would be $0 or a minimal amount that could be absorbed within existing resources.
The total ten year fiscal impact would be unknown, but DOC officials assume it would be $0, or a minimal amount that could be absorbed, per year.
The need for capital improvements is not anticipated at this time. It must be noted that the cumulative effect of various new legislation, if adopted, could result in the need for additional capital improvements funding if the total number of new offenders exceeds current planned capacity.
Oversight assumes that local jail populations could be affected by mandatory sentencing outlined in this proposal, but assume the direct fiscal impact would be minimal.
| FISCAL IMPACT - State Government | FY 2000 | FY 2001 | FY 2002 |
| (10 Mo.) | |||
| HIGHWAY FUND | |||
| Cost - Department of Revenue | |||
| postage, forms, State Data Center costs | ($7,285) | 0 | 0 |
| FISCAL IMPACT - Local Government | FY 2000 | FY 2001 | FY 2002 |
| (10 Mo.) | |||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| FISCAL IMPACT - Small Business | |||
| No direct fiscal impact to small businesses would be expected as a result of this proposal. | |||
DESCRIPTION
This proposal would create the crime of aggravated driving with excessive blood alcohol content (BAC), for .18% and would mandate that twelve points be assessed for this new conviction type. This proposal allows DOR to administratively suspend or revoke an offender's driving privilege for a .18% BAC alcohol related enforcement contact. An offender would not be eligible for a limited driving privilege until the first thirty days of a suspension or revocation have been served and must complete SATOP before having their privilege reinstated.
This proposal would clarify that only individuals under the age of twenty-one and suspended under the zero tolerance provisions could have that record expunged when they attain the age of twenty-one if the BAC was between .02% and .09%.
This legislation is federally mandated under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century Restoration Act which requires states to enact Repeat Intoxicated Drivers Laws. It would not duplicate any other program and would not require additional capital improvements or rental space.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Department of Revenue
Department of Public Safety - Missouri State Highway Patrol
Missouri Department of Transportation
State Courts Administrator
Department of Corrections
Office of the Attorney General
Office of Prosecution Services
State Public Defender
Jeanne Jarrett, CPA
Director
April 13, 1999