Last week after a man was arrested for DUI, we ran record checks through the NCIC database and discovered that he had 9 prior DUI convictions under several different names. These convictions were spread out over many years. Some occurred out of state and were felonies, but only two were within the past 7 years. Despite this terrible history, despite the obvious danger this man presents, we could not charge him with a felony. Under our current DUI law, the maximum that this man faces is 364 days in jail and a $5000 fine.

We looked back and realized that within the past year in District Court, we have had several other cases where other defendants have had up to 8 or 9 prior DUIs. Some of them also were out-of-state felonies. But it makes no difference. In Washington, the only thing that matters is the last 7 years. Washington applies it’s own standards in whether or not it is a felony without regard to out of state convictions. So a person can have multiple felony DUIs in other states, but be treated here just as a gross misdemeanor.

Last year, with much fanfare, the legislature took some small steps to strengthen the DUI statutes. Interestingly, the following comments were attached to the legislation.

“The legislature finds that Washington State has one of the weakest driving under the influence felony laws (in non injury cases) in the nation. Of the forty-five states that have felony driving under the influence laws, … Washington and North Dakota were the only states where a convicted driving under the influence offender in a non injury crash could be charged with a felony starting on the fifth offense. This year, north Dakota changed its law making a fourth time driving under the influence offender a felon, leaving Washington state with the dubious distinction as the state with the greatest number of prior convictions required to constitute a driving under the influence felony.”
House bill 5912 section 38

What is wrong in Olympia? Due to our weak felony DUI law, many repeat offenders who would be treated as felons in other states are getting off easy in Washington. Weak laws, weak courts and a preoccupation with endless attempts at treatment, add up to slaughter on Washington highways. We should not be in last place in this statistic. It is past time to get serious about drinking and driving.