Senate panel advances bill imposing mandatory minimums for DUI-related deaths

The Senate Judiciary & Rules Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1099 to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation after testimony from law‑enforcement and victims’ family members urging stiffer penalties for drivers who kill while impaired.

Sponsor Senator Craig Burnt, State Senator from District 21, told the committee the bill would set a graduated set of mandatory minimums when a driver with prior DUI convictions is convicted of vehicular manslaughter. "When someone is sentenced for their first DUI conviction ... the judge will now have to issue a warning stating that future DUI convictions along with vehicular manslaughter conviction may, or will result in a mandatory minimum of 5 to 10 years depending on how many DUIs they have on the record," Burnt said.

The bill lays out three steps, as described by Burnt: an initial warning at first DUI conviction; a five‑year mandatory minimum if a person with a prior DUI is later charged with vehicular manslaughter; and a 10‑year…