Members of the House Committee on Jurisprudence are meeting to consider ways to address DWIs in Texas, including whether to require ignition interlock systems for first time drunk driving offenders.
MAAD is pushing this hard, and has the attitude that it isn’t expensive to have the IID installed and maintained in a vehicle.
However, one probation official estimates that it will cost between $7 and $12 million to monitor those with interlocks. It’s not just as simple as putting them on points out the probation official.
The probation official believes that we should institute a standardized system to determine which offenders would benefit the most from the device. He believes that is should be installed based on evidence-based practices, after an assessment.
Basically, he is saying, let the Judge decide who needs it, not just a blanket rule for everyone. Of course, that is the system we have now.
