Senate committee hears proposal to make 24/7 sobriety program a full driving privilege

Senate Bill 416 would let Nevada judges offer qualifying repeat impaired-driving offenders a 24/7 sobriety and drug monitoring privilege that allows broader driving access than the program’s current restricted license.

Supporters told the Senate Committee on Growth and Infrastructure the change is intended to reduce barriers to compliance and to improve monitoring of substance-impaired repeat offenders. "Our hope is to ensure that these people that are participating in the 24/7 program have the same ability to have that license those do in the ignition interlock program," Andrew Bennett, chairman of the Nevada Advisory Committee on Traffic Safety, said during the committee hearing.

The bill, presented by Bennett and Judge Scott Pearson, would replace statutory references to a ‘‘restricted driver’s license’’ for participants with the term ‘‘24/7 privilege’’ and direct the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles to issue those privileges when courts notify the agency. Provisions would allow testing methods that meet federal standards, including some remote testing options and transdermal or kiosk-based systems, and would update statutory references to reflect the new terminology.

Judge Scott Pearson described the program’s purpose as pairing immediate testing with treatment and law-enforcement oversight. He said the 24/7 model—used in several other states—requires daily breath testing for alcohol and randomized testing for controlled substances, and can provide faster therapeutic interventions for high-risk participants. "For alcohol, it's every day," Pearson said. For controlled substances, he described a standard of "two out of every seven days completely random," including weekends and holidays, and said program hours are typically broad enough—about 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.—to avoid forcing participants to choose between testing and work.

Supporters and presenters cited studies and multi-state experience showing reductions in fatalities and injuries when jurisdictions use 24/7 sobriety models. Pearson emphasized the program’s advantage in detecting drug use that ignition-interlock devices cannot: "We're seeing controlled substance impaired driving increase significantly and the fatalities and injuries from that. And unfortunately, the technology in the ignition interlock device does not test for drugs."

The Department of Motor Vehicles testified in neutral and warned of a fiscal and technical impact. Sean Severson, director of the Nevada DMV, said the agency expects a fiscal note: "Contractor grama will be required, over a thousand hours to allow the 24/7 privilege to be assigned to qualified persons instead of the a restricted license." He asked for flexibility on the implementation date so the DMV can avoid reprogramming an older COBOL system, and offered to work with bill sponsors on an amendment to reduce the fiscal burden.

Committee members asked about program compliance and safety; supporters said accidents by program participants are "incredibly rare," and pointed to high rates of clean breath tests among participants. Pearson said the program promotes positive reinforcement from probation officers and law enforcement and that public defenders historically supported the program as an easier compliance pathway than ignition-interlock in some cases.

The committee took testimony and then closed the hearing on SB 416 without a vote during the session. No formal committee action or amendment was recorded in the hearing transcript.

Questions about the DMV fiscal note, the details of any remote testing methods to be authorized, and operational oversight remain for follow-up if the committee advances the bill.

Sources: Testimony by Andrew Bennett, Chairman, Nevada Advisory Committee on Traffic Safety; Judge Scott Pearson; Sean Severson, Director, Nevada DMV.