New Program Targets Repeat Drunken Drivers Court Offers Treatment To Those Who Plead Guilty

Gery Durbin says if it weren’t for a drunken driver, his wife and daughter would probably still be alive.

Sherry Durbin and her 16-year-old daughter, Kami, were killed in April after the car they were in swerved to avoid a pickup that passed them on the shoulder of U.S. Highway 95.

Their Ford Taurus headed into on-coming traffic and was hit by a Plymouth sedan driven by an Athol man, who police say had a blood-alcohol limit of .12, greater than the legal limit of .08.

And while the man didn’t cause the accident, Gery Durbin blames him. The man was cited for DUI, but was not found responsible for causing the accident. However, in court testimony, witnesses said the man didn’t apply his brakes or swerve out the way before the collision.

“Had he been sober, he would have had better judgment,” Durbin said. “I feel the drunk was the major cause of my wife and daughter’s death.”

Kootenai County court officials hope that a new diversion program will help prevent losses like Durbin’s.

A new DUI court, patterned after Kootenai County’s drug court, is scheduled to begin this fall.

With a $54,000 federal grant, organizers hope to cut into Kootenai County’s high DUI numbers. In 1999, the county had 1,371 misdemeanor and 47 felony DUI cases.

The 12-month pilot program is aimed at second-time offenders and drivers with excessive blood-alcohol levels - .20 or greater.

Qualifying misdemeanor and some felony DUI offenders willing to plead guilty to their charges will undergo treatment and check in with the courts and their probation officers, said Jim Daugherty, a Kootenai County deputy prosecutor working to help draft the program.

Like drug court, the program is designed to help free up overburdened judges, clerks and attorneys.

The Idaho Supreme Court is allowing the program to use a pro-tem judge - typically a local attorney - who can accept guilty pleas and admissions to probation violation.

An administrative judge will still have oversight of the program, Daugherty said.

Still at issue is what “carrots” will be offered to offenders to make the program worthwhile. Federal laws require minimum sentences. If states don’t have those in place, they lose out on federal safety grant money, Daugherty said.

Judges and attorneys are also looking at how to provide treatment to offenders.

“Too many times this (criminal justice) system is a joke to these people,” said Daneka Keith, spokeswoman for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Keith said she welcomes a program that will give consistent punishment to drunken drivers, but still wants stiff sentences for repeat and felony offenders.

In another attempt to attack Kootenai County’s high DUI rate, an extra probation officer will be hired this month.

A $55,000 grant from the state Office of Highway Safety will help pay for a new misdemeanor probation officer, said Greg Orlando, head of the county’s adult misdemeanor probation office.

The officer will track convicted drunken drivers, doing tavern and bar checks and riding with patrol officers.

Of the county’s misdemeanor DUI cases, a significant number were repeat offenders, Orlando said.

While law enforcement does a good job catching drunken drivers, there needs to be more focus on repeat offenders, he said.

“It’s the after-court part that we want to strengthen,” he said. “We believe repeat offenders pose a huge risk to the public.”