Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BY LAURIE HAHN, Times-Union Staff Writer
A draft of a proposed bill to confiscate the cars of repeat drunk drivers was sent recently to prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the state for feedback.
The proposed legislation, sponsored by State Sen. Kent Adams at the request of Kosciusko County Prosecutor David Kolbe, adds vehicles of repeat offenders to the list of items that can be seized under existing state law.
The bill provides for vehicles to be temporarily impounded if they are "used by a person to commit certain offenses, namely multiple drunk driving offenses, driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury or death, and operating a motor vehicle in violation of certain Bureau of Motor Vehicles or court-imposed driver's license restriction," Adams said in a memo that accompanied the proposed bill.
The vehicle also can be added to the list of property that can be seized and forfeited, Adams said, but only if the prosecuting attorney files a complaint, and only after a hearing is held before a court that decides if the vehicle should be forfeited.
The proposed legislation is not without controversy, Adams said.
"Anything worth its substance, you're going to have people for and against it," he said this morning.
One response Adams said he's heard is that the bill would take away a person's right to drive his or her car.
"Driving a car is a privilege, not a right," said the former state trooper.
Other questions involve vehicles that are owned jointly by married couples, or vehicles that are financed through banks or other lending institutions.
Those concerns are dealt with in the proposed bill and in the previous forfeiture chapter, Adams said.
"This chapter already contains protections for co-owners and creditors - they must knowingly permit the vehicle to be used to engage in the conduct that subjects the vehicle to seizure," he said.
Adams said he did not support adding "just another law" to the books, but did believe "that we must continue to strive to do all we can to address this serious problem of removing drunken drivers and habitual violators of traffic laws from our public roads and highways."
After receiving feedback on the proposed bill, Adams will prepare a final draft for filing and seek a committee hearing in the 1998 legislative session. The committee hearing will allow for public testimony on the legislation.
