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1995 SESSION

LD3358272
HOUSE BILL NO. 878
Offered January 25, 1994
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-270 of the Code of Virginia, relating to penalty for driving while intoxicated.
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Patrons--Hargrove, Cantor, Forbes, Griffith, Howell, Johnson, McClure, McDonnell, Parrish and Reid; Senator: Chichester
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 18.2-270 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 18.2-270. Penalty for driving while intoxicated; subsequent offense; prior conviction.

Any person violating any provision of § 18.2-266 shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. Additionally, if the person's blood alcohol level at the time of the offense for which he is convicted was at least 0.20 but not more than 0.25, he shall be confined to jail for a mandatory period of five days. If such level was more than 0.25, he shall be confined to jail for a mandatory period of ten days. No such mandatory period of confinement shall be suspended by the court.

Any person convicted of a second offense committed within less than five years after a first offense under § 18.2-266 shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $2,500 and by confinement in jail for not less than one month nor more than one year. Forty-eight hours of such confinement shall be a mandatory, minimum sentence not subject to suspension by the court. Any person convicted of a second offense committed within a period of five to ten years of a first offense under § 18.2-266 shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $2,500 and by confinement in jail for not less than one month nor more than one year. Additionally, if the person's blood alcohol level at the time of any second offense for which he is convicted was at least 0.20 but not more than 0.25, he shall be confined to jail for a mandatory period of ten days without suspension. If such level was more than 0.25, he shall be confined to jail for a mandatory period of twenty days without suspension. Any person convicted of a third offense or subsequent offense committed within ten years of an offense under § 18.2-266 shall be punishable by a fine of not less than $500 nor more than $2,500 and by confinement in jail for not less than two months nor more than one year. Thirty days of such confinement shall be a mandatory, minimum sentence not subject to suspension by the court if the third or subsequent offense occurs within less than five years. Ten days of such confinement shall be a mandatory, minimum sentence not subject to suspension by the court if the third or subsequent offense occurs within a period of five to ten years of a first offense. Additionally, if the person's blood alcohol level at the time of a third or subsequent offense for which he is convicted was at least 0.20 but not more than 0.25, he shall be confined to jail for a mandatory period of ten days without suspension. If such level was more than 0.25, he shall be confined to jail for a mandatory period of twenty days without suspension.

In addition to the penalty otherwise authorized by this section or § 16.1-278.9, any person convicted of a violation of § 18.2-266 committed while transporting a person seventeen years of age or younger shall be (i) fined an additional minimum of $100 and not more than $500 and (ii) sentenced to perform forty hours of community service in a program benefitting children or, for a subsequent offense, eighty hours of community service in such a program.

For the purpose of this section a conviction or finding of guilty in the case of a juvenile under the following shall be considered a prior conviction: (i) the provisions of § 18.2-266, former § 18.1-54 (formerly § 18-75), the ordinance of any county, city or town in this Commonwealth or the laws of any other state or of the United States substantially similar to the provisions of §§ 18.2-266 through 18.2-269, or (ii) the provisions of subsection A of § 46.2-341.24 or the substantially similar laws of any other state or of the United States.