New Ohio Law Forces Chemical Tests for Repeat DUI Offenders

On September 30, a new law took effect in Ohio which allows authorities to force drivers with two or more driving under the influence arrests to submit to blood or urine tests without their consent. If a repeat drunk driver suspected of driving under the influence refuses to submit to a chemical test, police are entitled to use "reasonable means" to have a medical worker physically take the blood sample. This law will apply to individuals who have a previous felony in their record, who have two or more convictions in the last six years for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, or who have five or more DUI convictions in the last twenty years.

Local prosecutors have been frustrated by individuals suspected of driving under the influence refusing to submit to a chemical test to reveal their blood alcohol concentration. The passage of this law would help to quell the prosecutor's frustration. Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor Brian Goodyear explained, "Frankly, the idea behind this is to limit the ability of people to refuse having their blood or breath tested after they've demonstrated a pattern of (drunken driving)." Prior to the new law, in order to obtain a conviction, prosecutors had to rely on eyewitness testimony of people who saw how much alcohol the defendant consumed in cases where the individual refused to submit to the chemical test.

While prosecutors are strongly in favor of the new law, there are a number of people who are outraged by the evasive new law and who believe it is a blatant violation of a driver's civil rights. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has added that the forced chemical test is highly unconstitutional because the law gives police authority to obtain a sample without a warrant, which may lead to an abuse of police power.

In addition to the provision of the law which allows for forced chemical tests, the new law will also set up a searchable online database of drunk drivers. The new law requires the courts to send the Ohio Department of Public Safety the records of individuals that have been convicted of driving under the influence at least five times over the last twenty years. Those convicted of multiple driving under the influence offenses will have their name, address, and crime posted on the public internet database. The law mandates that the Department of Public Safety have the database up and working by the end of 2008. Approximately 30,000 people in Ohio have been convicted of five or more drunk driving offenses.

The law also includes a provision which requires treatment for alcoholism for repeat driving under the influence offenders, increases penalties for repeat offenses, and in some cases, will require the installment of an ignition interlock system for convicted DUI offenders.

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