Vehicle seizure bill in RR a step closer

Ordinance targets repeat DWI drivers

The city of Rio Rancho on Wednesday moved a step closer, albeit narrowly, to seizing vehicles of repeat DWI offenders.

Mayor Gregg Hull broke a tie to approve the first reading of the proposed DWI vehicle seizure ordinance at the Rio Rancho Governing Body meeting at City Hall. City Councilors Cheryl Everett, Lonnie Clayton and Shelby Smith supported the measure, while Councilors Dawnn Robinson, Chuck Wilkins and Mark Scott opposed it.

The measure must pass a second reading and be funded to take effect.

It would allow the city to temporarily boot or permanently seize the vehicles of people arrested for a second or subsequent DWI or for driving on a license revoked or suspended because of a DWI conviction. The action would be civil, not criminal.

For the second DWI arrest, car owners could opt to pay a fee and have their cars booted for a month instead of seized.

“It basically declares vehicles operated by repeat offenders, No. 1, a public nuisance and, No. 2, a danger to the public,” Police Chief Michael Geier said.

People who were “innocent owners,” meaning there was no evidence they consented to the illegal use of their vehicle by someone who was drunk, and innocent registered lienholders would be able to get the car back under the ordinance. However, if the city could prove the owner knew of the driver’s DWI convictions or current intoxication, it could take the car.

Once the owner claimed innocence, the burden of proof would lie with the city.

Robinson wanted to change the standard of proof from a “preponderance of evidence” to “clear and convincing” to take cars from owners claim- ing innocence.

“That’s what my concern is, protecting the people who are actually innocent,” she said.

City Attorney Jennifer VegaBrown said the preponderance of evidence standard is high and making it higher could set the city up to fail. She also wasn’t sure the clear and convincing standard was allowed in such civil actions.

Robinson also said she was worried the ordinance would invite lawsuits against the city.

Wilkins said he was concerned about the program’s effect on the budget and wanted to be sure it was done right.

Geier and Vega-Brown pointed to decreased DWI arrest rates in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County after the institution of a vehicle seizure program.

Vega-Brown said that studies indicate impounding vehicles is one of the most effective means of reducing DWI among second and subsequent offenders. She expected the program would take a few years to decrease DWI numbers.

Police Deputy Chief Gary Wiseman said Rio Rancho Police Department has a robust DWI unit, but the city is sixth in the state in fatal alcohol-related crashes.

He said the average cost of a deadly DWI wreck is $5 million.

“Now, it’s hard to put a price on the program,” Wiseman said. “It’s even harder to put a price on a life.”

City Manager Keith Riesberg said estimates project the program would have $377,000 of revenue and $365,000 of expenses yearly. Vega-Brown said she and police used arrest statistics from 2013 and 2014, factoring in the percentage of innocent owners and vehicles booted versus forfeited from her experience in Albuquerque to estimate costs and income.

Officials expect the program to pay for itself. Any extra money would go to the police department for DWI prevention, education and enforcement.

The city would need to hire a few more staff members to handle the program.

Vega-Brown said the ordinance requires a city administrative hearing within 20 business days of the arrest and then a district court hearing before the city could get vehicle titles.

“I would have to prove the same things I would have to prove in a criminal trial,” she said.

Vega-Brown said she handled about 2,300 DWI vehicle seizure cases in her last year working for the City of Albuquerque. She estimated 200 ended in vehicle forfeiture.

In the remaining cases, cars were returned to innocent owners or lien-holders, booted temporarily or abandoned. Some repeat offenders would buy a cheap car expecting to drive drunk and abandon it if arrested, Vega-Brown said.

Wilkins said he wanted vehicles to be forfeited only after a conviction.

Vega-Brown said waiting for a conviction can take a year or two, meaning the city would deprive the owner of the car for that time and rack up expenses storing the vehicle. Also, some drivers guilty of DWI are acquitted on technicalities, so the seizure program can still provide consequences, she said.

Although vehicle seizure ordinances have been challenged in court, none have been overturned, she said. The New Mexico Supreme Court has ruled they don’t violate double jeopardy prohibitions.

Rio Rancho resident David Baldwin questioned if a DWI offense from decades ago would count against someone with the seizure program.

“I’m all for getting the drunks off the road. I think there are probably other ways of doing it,” he said, suggesting using ankle bracelets to keep people out of bars or keeping offenders in jail.

Vega-Brown later said she wouldn’t be able to get proof of convictions much older than 10 years because the state Motor Vehicle Department doesn’t keep records that way.

Kerry Adams, also a Rio Rancho resident, said she didn’t have a problem with forfeiture of property, but the seizure law makes the car the issue rather than the driver. She said cars don’t drive drunk or cause accidents any more than pencils misspell words or spoons make people fat.

mith later likened a car driven by an intoxicated person to weapon, saying a killer wouldn’t get back a gun used in a homicide.

“The removing of a weapon is incredibly important,” he said.

From another view, City of Vision resident Dave Heil asked the governing body to consider more oversight of seizure funds so the police department couldn’t be accused of conflict of interest.