DWI reporting

A tougher law regarding drunken-driving offenders in Missouri will be among the bills considered when the Legislature meets next month. Largely in response to a series of articles in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, state officials are seeking ways to make sure repeat offenders are tracked across the state.

A bill sponsored by state Rep. Bryan Stevenson, a Joplin Republican, and co-sponsored by state Rep. Rachel Bringers, a Palmyra Democrat and former prosecutor, would require all DWI arrests and case information to be reported to the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Driving While Intoxicated Tracking System. Law enforcement agencies, including those in Cape Girardeau County, currently use the tracking system on a voluntary basis. The bill would make such reporting mandatory.

Tracking repeat offenders, proponents say, would result in more uniform punishments. The proposed law also would make it a crime to refuse to submit to a blood-alcohol test, and it would expand the use of ignition-interlock devices.

The legislation has the support of Gov. Jay Nixon, who toured the state earlier this month drawing attention to the need for a stiffer law. Making DWI reporting to a centralized data center is a major step toward better handling of such cases.