The Senate Committee on Corrections and Criminal Law heard Sen. Young’s SB 175 increasing the penalties for some operating a vehicle while intoxicated charges. The bill provides that a person who causes the death of another person when operating a vehicle with cocaine, a narcotic drug listed in schedule I or II, methamphetamine, or its metabolite in the person’s body commits a Level 4 felony. Sen. Young drafted this bill to differentiate OWI causing death with serious drugs (narcotics, methamphetamine, and cocaine) from OWI causing death with other drugs (marijuana).
Representatives from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council and Indiana Public Defenders Council testified in support. The bill passed 9-0.
Read the bill here: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2019/bills/senate/175