Talking Points

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 Michigan study of three DWI Courts, DWI court offenders were up to 19 times less likely to be re-arrested for DWI than a DWI offender in a traditional court.
• In a yet to be published Georgia study of three DWI Courts, preliminary numbers indicate that DWI court graduates had a 9% recidivism rate versus 24% for traditional courts.
• In the same Georgia Study, it is estimated that DWI Courts resulted in between 47 and 112 DWI fewer DWI arrests for those jurisdictions.
• The following organizations have passed resolutions in support of DWI Courts:
  
  • 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).