Assembly Increases Penalty For Repeat Drunk Driving

Some of the worst repeat drunk drivers would be required to serve a three-year prison sentence under a bill that passed the Wisconsin Assembly Tuesday.

Mequon Assembly Republican Jim Ott says the bill is a response to a recent case where a court ruled that prison time was optional for a seventh “Operating While Intoxicated” offense. Ott says lawmakers were concerned other judges might make similar rulings down the road.

“A quicker way to deal with ‘down the road’ is for us to simply a statute making it very, very clear that the legislature does in fact intend that there be a three-year mandatory minimum confinement for 7th, 8th and 9th repeat offenders.”