State Legislature to hold Public Hearing on OWI Loophole
Republican State Representative Andre Jacgue from De Pere believes a loophole needs to be closed in Wisconsin’s current OWI penalty structure. As Wisconsin law currently stands, drunk driving, boating, snowmobiling, ATV/UTV’ing are all separate offenses. This means a person could have an OWI conviction on each type of vehicle – with each counted as a 1st offense.
Rep. Jacgue and Rep. Cody Horlacher have introduced a bill to count every OWI in the last five years the same, regardless of what type of vehicle you’re operating when arrested. In addition, if a person’s driver’s license is suspended or revoked due to an OWI conviction, they would not be able to operate any of the aforementioned recreational vehicles or boats.
De Pere has pushed for similar legislation in the past and has been met with strong resistance from the public and received little support from fellow lawmakers. However, this is the first time such legislation has received a public hearing.
