House approves $60 DUI testing fee to recoup state testing costs after amendments

The Utah House on Jan. 26 passed House Bill 169, which adds a fee to be levied on persons convicted of driving under the influence to recoup the state’s estimated testing costs for breath and blood analysis.

Sponsor Representative Ronald J. Aulte told the chamber the state’s testing program costs about $600,000 per year and that the fee—set at $60 per conviction—was calculated from that estimate together with the number of convictions. “This is a single-issue bill,” the sponsor said, explaining the fee is intended to recover the state’s share of testing costs tied to DUI convictions.

Floor debate focused on three central points: the proper scope of the bill’s language, whether the fee accurately reflects per-test costs, and whether the judiciary should collect a surcharge-style fee. Lawmakers adopted a floor amendment deleting the word “chemical” and inserting “alcohol and drug” to make the measure plainly cover breath- and blood-based alcohol testing and drug testing. Critics argued the $60 figure overstated typical per-test laboratory charges (one member said a total blood culture cost was about $57 and another suggested $10 for some blood analyses) and warned that piling surcharges onto existing fines could create practical and separation-of-powers concerns for courts asked to collect multiple assessments.

A separate amendment to reduce the fee from $60 to $15 failed in a recorded vote. Representative Volk summed up that the measure recovers a direct testing cost for the state and urged passage. The House passed HB 169 as amended by a recorded vote of 42–30 and referred it to the Senate.