In our efforts to monitor potential changes to the DUI laws in Tennessee, the lawyers at Oberman & Rice learned that yesterday (January 28, 2013), the Tennessee Department of Safety held a meeting to discuss the DUI Portion of the Governor’s new Safety Plan. The non-technical portion of the plan reflects the following changes:
1) Future aggressive enforcement of DUI laws by
a. An analysis of arrest location data to facilitate & maximize enforcement; and
b. a 70% increase in DUI/DWI arrests by the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) over a 2-year period.
2) Over the next two years, there will be increased emphasis on treatment for repeat offenders by having the Commissioner of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services use resources to provide for treatment of indigents.
3) The DUI laws in Tennessee will be re-written and re-organized to make the laws easier to find and understand – not only for judges and lawyers, but also for the public in general. Hopefully, the laws will be streamlined and correct the many redundancies that presently exist. It is anticipated that these changes will not be substantive, but will instead focus to correct inconsistencies.
The lawyers at Oberman & Rice are concerned that a mandated increase in arrest rates will cause many innocent people to be arrested and introduced to our judicial system. Blog readers may contact the author at Oberman & Rice, Trial Attorneys, to learn more about these important changes to Tennessee’s DUI laws.
