Labor Day DUI Crackdown

Kansas City metropolitan law enforcement agencies in Platte, Clay and Jackson counties in Missouri as well as Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas will be enforcing DUI laws through the upcoming Labor Day weekend by way of increased DUI patrols and the establishment of DUI checkpoints. In Kansas, a new law effective July 1, 2012 makes it a crime to refuse a post-arrest breath test if the driver has a prior DUI or DWI conviction or diversion or has a prior breath test refusal after 2001 and when the driver was at least 18 years old at the time of the prior occurence. The punishment for that crime is the same as for a DUI conviction itself. In Missouri and well as Kansas, the penalties for a first-time DUI or DWI can be harsh including jail time, supervised probation, alcohol counseling/treatment and a license suspension.