DWI Courts are an effective tool to combat the hardcore impaired driver. DWI Courts are accountability courts, holding the hardcore impaired drivers accountable for their decisions; decisions made before the arrest – to drink and drive, and decisions made after the conviction – to comply with a court order.
- DWI Courts operate in a post-conviction model using intensive supervision and treatment to change the person's behavior.
- DWI Courts use all the criminal justice stakeholders (judge, prosecutor, defense attorney, law enforcement, probation, and treatment) in a cooperative approach to change the offender’s behavior.
- In a study of three Michigan DWI Courts, DWI court participants were up to 19 times less likely to be re-arrested for DWI than a DWI offender in a traditional court.
- In a study funded by NHTSA of three Georgia DWI Courts, DWI court participants had a 15% recidivism rate versus 24% for traditional courts.
- In the same Georgia Study, it is estimated that DWI Courts resulted in between 47 and 112 fewer DWI arrests for those jurisdictions.
- The following organizations have passed resolutions in support of DWI Courts:
- American Judges Association
- The Governor's Highway Safety Association (GHSA);
- The Highway Safety Committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP);
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD);
- The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA);
- The National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators (NAPC);
- The National District Attorneys Association; and,
- The National Sherriff's Association (NSA).
