MONITORING COMPLIANCE WITH THE IGNTION INTERLOCK Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court First Offender’s Program Albuquerque, New Mexico

History New Mexico law changed in 2005, requiring the installation of an interlock device for anyone convicted of Driving While Intoxicated. Prior to 2005, only subsequent DWI offenders had the interlock requirement The Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Probation Department implemented the Interlock Compliance Unit this same year to monitor these offenders

History The unit started off with two Probation Officers and one clerk In 2008 an in-house evaluation determined that a Risk and Needs tool would help Probation Officers decide which clients required closer supervision and which ones did not

History Interlock Compliance Unit began submitting interlock and compliance information to a state wide database In 2011 the Compliance Unit expanded to five Probation Officers, a Supervisor and a Court Clerk. The Unit’s name was changed to the “DWI First Offender’s Program”

History Per State law, defendants are required to complete a “DWI School”, attend a session of the Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, Victim Impact Panel and complete twenty-four hours of community service upon conviction. These requirements are referred to as the “Mandates” The DWI School is a twelve hour course (usually broken into six, two hour sessions) that teaches a curriculum decided by the Traffic Safety Bureau

History Two of our Probation Officer positions are funded by a grant from the New Mexico Department of Transportation, Traffic Safety Bureau The results of the Risk and Needs tool determines if the defendant will be referred for substance abuse treatment Low Risk/Need defendants can be placed on “non- reporting” status after completion of the First Offender’s Program Mandates

Interlock Compliance Defendants are sentenced into the First Offender’s Program On the Sentencing Order the defendant is ordered to have the Ignition Interlock for one year, and to have an Ignition Interlock license. At this time the DWI Citation is sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles, letting the Department know that the defendant was convicted of DWI

Interlock Compliance Once the Department of Motor Vehicles is notified of the conviction for DWI, the department will revoke the defendant’s driver’s license Defendant can still get the Interlock License but need to provide proof of interlock installation (Interlock contract)

Interlock Compliance Upon intake into the First Offender’s Program, the defendant signs an affidavit, swearing and affirming that they are either driving (including the make, model, and year of vehicle), or not driving Affidavit is notarized and it is explained to the defendant, in no uncertain terms, that they are not to drive without both the interlock and interlock license

Affidavit

Interlock Compliance To ensure that the interlock is used properly, the Probation Department implemented a “Zero Tolerance Policy” Defendants are solely responsible for the use, or lack of use, of their interlock In the event of a fail, violation or lockout the defendant is required to re-test on the interlock after the lockout period which is usually five minutes

Interlock Compliance Even if the defendant “passes” the re-test they are required to call their Probation Officer immediately Even if they do not speak to their Probation Officer the defendant is required to take an Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG) test within twenty-four hours of the violation

Interlock Compliance EtG is a metabolite of alcohol that stays in urine up to ninety-six hours after consumption Most EtG tests also test for Ethyl Sulfate (EtS), which is a more accurate predictor of alcohol consumption than EtG Cutoffs are used to ensure that the EtG and EtS levels are not due to environmental factors. The most accepted cutoffs are 500 ng/mL for EtG and 100 ng/mL for EtS

Zero Tolerance Policy

Interlock Compliance Although the onus is on the defendant to follow the “Zero Tolerance Policy”, it should be the Court’s responsibility to locate agencies that will allow the defendant to comply If the defendant fails to complete the EtG within twenty-four hours they are considered to be in violation of their probation and a hearing is set to address the violation

Interlock Compliance “It was my cologne”, “I used mouthwash”, “I ate pizza before I used the machine” The EtG requirement was put into place to ensure, one way or another, if the violation was due to alcohol consumption or environmental causes

Frequent Questions From Court What if someone reports the fail but does not complete the EtG? Are they still in violation? What if the EtG is positive but the EtS levels are negative? What if the initial test is a fail and the retest was passed or vise-versa? What if the equipment is at fault, not the defendant?

Logistics A strong partnership with local interlock providers is key It is important that all parties have the most current contact information Once a Probation Officer receives an Interlock Contract a referral is sent to the interlock agency to ensure all violations are sent to the correct Officer

Referral

Logistics A cutoff level is needed to determine what constitutes a violation. Our Court’s cutoff level is.025%, meaning anything above this level is considered a fail If treatment was not recommended on the outset and the defendant subsequently has an ignition interlock violation and positive EtG, then the defendant is sent for a substance abuse assessment

Logistics It is important for the Court to understand how interlocks work as well. Defendants have/will try and argue that they did not know they had a violation because the device was vague and did not let them know We have instructed our defendants that if the device makes them retest after 5 minutes then they have had a fail

Logistics The “Zero Tolerance Policy” only works because it has been accepted as part of probation compliance, and probation compliance is written into the defendant’s Judgement and Sentence. This language was important to us because it allows the probation department to hold defendants accountable for their interlock usage

Sanctions It is written into our DWI laws that failure to complete any of the conditions of the First Offender Program will result in a forty-eight hour jail sanction Additional community service More frequent drug and alcohol testing In home sobrietor (SCRAM/SOBERLINK)

Sanctions Camera Capable Interlock devices More frequent probation office visits Additional Victim Impact Panel attendance As a Court we are always trying to find alternatives to incarceration when possible

Conclusion Today our unit monitors over 550 ignition interlocks, in 2011 the number was over 1000 DWI arrests in Bernalillo County have been trending down for several years We hope to continue this trend and feel that the efforts of the Court, the interlock companies, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the Traffic Safety Bureau have certainly helped reduce the number of DWI arrests

Contact Information Martin A. Burkhart Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court Probation Supervision Division