State Rep. Kelly Flood is restarting talks on a measure that would strengthen Kentucky’s DUI laws. The Lexington Democrat wants to widen what’s called the “look back window.”
When calculating penalties for repeat DUIs, Kentucky law only permits courts to tally offenses from the previous five years – that’s how far prosecutors are allowed to “look back.” That means a motorist pulled over for drunk driving once every five years could have each offense treated as his or her first.
But that window would double under the bill prefiled by Rep. Flood. The lawmaker tells WKYT-TV the current setup lets repeat offenders escape stiffer sentences and her bill would go a long way toward fixing the problem.
"That way we really are making sure that we're capturing folk who have chronic drunk driving problems and we need to get them off the road," she said.
Flood argues a longer window could have put Odilon Paz-Salvador, a truck driver charged in the death of Lexington attorney and bicyclist Mark Hinkel, behind bars. Paz-Salvador, who has pleaded not guilty, told officers he had nine previous DUI arrests – most more than five years old.
With the lookback window extended, he could have been facing felony charges and up to five years in prison.
