Kentucky Legislature Targets DUI Drug Users

Kentucky Legislatures are cracking down on DUI in Kentucky.

Members of the Kentucky Senate passed a bill on February 27, 2007 to amend KRS 189A.010 to establish a per se violation of the DUI statute if the driver has at least a certain amount of a substance such as amphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and other substances in the urine or blood.  Evidence of these drugs inside a person would create a rebuttable presumption of guilt in order to make it easier for prosecutors to get a conviction.  This differs from the current practice wherein prosecutors must prove the person was impaired.

The Kentucky Senate further passed amendments to the Driving Under the Influence statute including:

• the deletion of the statutory right of DUI suspects to make telephonic communication with an attorney upon arrest;
• to lower the blood alcohol level required as an aggravating circumstance DUI from 0.18 to 0.15;
• to modify the provisions of the bill relating to the commission of an offense while a controlled substance is present in the person's blood.

The bill was sent to the Kentucky House of Representatives Judiciary Committee on March 2, 2007.

Post by Lexington Kentucky Attorney Stephen J. Isaacs, Isaacs Law Office.

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