Fourth DUI becomes felony offense starting Wednesday

Repeat drunken drivers will face a tougher punishment starting this week.

A new law makes a fourth DUI a felony punishable by up to six years in prison. Until now, offenders only faced a misdemeanor charge and no prison time, unless there were aggravating circumstances.

Retired Judge Victor Reyes of Pueblo told KRDO NewsChannel 13 that many offenders don’t realize the seriousness of the crime.

“They don’t look at themselves as, ‘I’m doing something criminal. I mean — it’s traffic.’ It’s a DUI,” Reyes said.

House Bill 15-1043, which goes into effect Wednesday, will change the consequences for offenders.

“People are now on notice that when you drink and drive there is a potential in the future that you may go to prison,” Reyes said. “Regardless of whether or not anyone is injured. Regardless of whether or not anyone is killed.”

Removing repeat DUI offenders from the road comes with a price. The state has appropriated $1.2 million from the general fund for 2015-2016 to the judicial department to pay for the extra costs associated with implementing the new law.

That money includes the cost of eight full-time employees to run trial court programs, two employees to work in probation, and three for the state public defender’s office.

“One of the things that comes out of this bill is clearly a need for specialized courts — a specialized DUI court,” Reyes said. “Those courts then run review hearings, there is a lot more accountability to offenders and to judges and to probation officers.”

Critics of the law said spending money on substance abuse treatment would have been a better investment.