| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to penalties for driving under the |
| 3 | influence; amending s. 316.193, F.S.; increasing the |
| 4 | amount of a fine that may be imposed under certain |
| 5 | conditions; providing for distribution of the additional |
| 6 | funds; providing an effective date. |
| 7 |
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| 8 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 9 |
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| 10 | Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section |
| 11 | 316.193, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 12 | 316.193 Driving under the influence; penalties.-- |
| 13 | (6) With respect to any person convicted of a violation of |
| 14 | subsection (1), regardless of any penalty imposed pursuant to |
| 15 | subsection (2), subsection (3), or subsection (4): |
| 16 | (a) For the first conviction, the court shall place the |
| 17 | defendant on probation for a period not to exceed 1 year and, as |
| 18 | a condition of such probation, shall order the defendant to |
| 19 | participate in public service or a community work project for a |
| 20 | minimum of 50 hours; or the court may order instead, that any |
| 21 | defendant pay an additional fine of $50 $10 for each hour of |
| 22 | public service or community work otherwise required, if, after |
| 23 | consideration of the residence or location of the defendant at |
| 24 | the time public service or community work is required, payment |
| 25 | of the fine is in the best interests of the state. Of each $50 |
| 26 | collected pursuant to this paragraph, $30 shall be deposited in |
| 27 | the State Courts Revenue Trust Fund, $5 shall be deposited in |
| 28 | the State Attorneys Revenue Trust Fund, and $5 shall be |
| 29 | deposited in the Public Defenders Revenue Trust Fund. However, |
| 30 | the total period of probation and incarceration may not exceed 1 |
| 31 | year. The court must also, as a condition of probation, order |
| 32 | the impoundment or immobilization of the vehicle that was |
| 33 | operated by or in the actual control of the defendant or any one |
| 34 | vehicle registered in the defendant's name at the time of |
| 35 | impoundment or immobilization, for a period of 10 days or for |
| 36 | the unexpired term of any lease or rental agreement that expires |
| 37 | within 10 days. The impoundment or immobilization must not occur |
| 38 | concurrently with the incarceration of the defendant. The |
| 39 | impoundment or immobilization order may be dismissed in |
| 40 | accordance with paragraph (e), paragraph (f), paragraph (g), or |
| 41 | paragraph (h). |
| 42 |
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| 43 | For the purposes of this section, any conviction for a violation |
| 44 | of s. 327.35; a previous conviction for the violation of former |
| 45 | s. 316.1931, former s. 860.01, or former s. 316.028; or a |
| 46 | previous conviction outside this state for driving under the |
| 47 | influence, driving while intoxicated, driving with an unlawful |
| 48 | blood-alcohol level, driving with an unlawful breath-alcohol |
| 49 | level, or any other similar alcohol-related or drug-related |
| 50 | traffic offense, is also considered a previous conviction for |
| 51 | violation of this section. However, in satisfaction of the fine |
| 52 | imposed pursuant to this section, the court may, upon a finding |
| 53 | that the defendant is financially unable to pay either all or |
| 54 | part of the fine, order that the defendant participate for a |
| 55 | specified additional period of time in public service or a |
| 56 | community work project in lieu of payment of that portion of the |
| 57 | fine which the court determines the defendant is unable to pay. |
| 58 | In determining such additional sentence, the court shall |
| 59 | consider the amount of the unpaid portion of the fine and the |
| 60 | reasonable value of the services to be ordered; however, the |
| 61 | court may not compute the reasonable value of services at a rate |
| 62 | less than the federal minimum wage at the time of sentencing. |
| 63 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009. |