Wednesday, January 19, 2011

No refusal weekends in Bexar and now Comal Counties

Much credit is due to Jennifer Tharp, Comal County's newest Criminal District Attorney and to Chief Misdemeanor Prosecutor Mel Koehler for putting this all together.

Also credit is due as well to Susan Reed the Bexar County DA who first started and implemented the no-refusal policy in Bexar County.


Comal cracks down on drunken driving
County adopts no-refusal policy for weekends
By Roy Bragg - Express-News

Bad news for drunken drivers on U.S. 281 and Interstate 35: Every weekend is a no-refusal weekend in Comal County.

Mirroring a policy in Bexar County, officials are cutting the red tape to get drunken drivers off the road. If a driver gets stopped on suspicion of driving drunk and declines to cooperate with police, the driver will be detained, a warrant will be issued and a mandatory blood sample taken.

Law enforcement agencies began toying with the idea in 2009, said Mel Koehler, the county's chief misdemeanor prosecutor. Agencies used several trial runs to iron out the wrinkles in how it would work. It started in earnest with New Year's weekend.

The rest of the story: