DUI Bill Conference Committee Begins Work
Filed Under Caucus, Top News, Martin, Knotts
Senate and House Members Want to Produce Strongest Bill Possible
Columbia, SC - Senate and House members sat down today to begin working out the differences between the two versions of H.3496. The conference committee consisting of three Senate members and three members from the House of Representatives went to work quickly as chairman of the Joint Legislative Conference Committee Senator Larry Martin (R-Pickens) oversaw today’s discussions.
“I am just glad we are at this point and have an opportunity to produce a strong DUI reform bill,” says Senator Martin. “I think we will be able to work through the differences quickly. Everyone here wants the same thing and that is to produce a strong DUI bill for the citizens of South Carolina.”
Committee members agreed to adopt the Senate language adding the offense of driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or higher to be added to the list of offenses eligible for charging a person 18 years of age or older with child endangerment when a child is in the car.
The committee also agreed to remove a provision from the bill that would require those convicted of DUI to carry increased minimum liability limits on their automotive insurance, due to technical errors in the original version of the bill. “I want it to be understood that I am all for raising the minimum liability limits, and I want us to work to find another bill that we can use to move this amendment forward,” says Senator Martin. The language currently in the bill requires minimum limits on personal property damage not common among insurance carriers. The committee requested the language be corrected and attached to another bill germane to the matter.
The committee also began preliminary discussions on the questions that a jury must answer during a DUI case, and whether or not the initial question put to the jury should include the various levels of blood alcohol content. “I think the common objective is the same and that is to make the process for the jury as simple and straight forward as possible; not to run over anyone’s rights but to insure that the process is fair for the prosecution and the defense,” says Senator Martin.
The next Joint Legislative Conference Committee on DUI is expected to meet on Wednesday, April 2 at 9: 00 AM in the Gressette building. The debate is expected to center around the differences currently separating the House and Senate versions of the bill.
In addition to Senator Martin, the conference committee consists of Senators Jake Knotts (R-Lexington), and Brad Hutto (D-Orangeburg), as well as Representatives George Murrell Smith (R-Sumter), Scott Talley (R-Spartanburg), and David Weeks (D-Sumter).
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