Kelley: DWI Offenders' Community Service Hours Defined

This week two of my bills were given final approval in the House and sent to the Senate. They will go through the same process there of a committee hearing, vote, floor debate, more votes and a conference committee if necessary. If they clear each step, the governor would then either sign them into law or use his veto authority.

HB199 passed the House 145-0. This bill was brought to my attention by Barton County Prosecutor Steven Kaderly. Under current law, as an alternative to being locked up, a prior DWI offender can perform 30 days of community service as a condition of being placed on probation. A persistent offender has to perform 60 days.

The quirk in the law was a day was not defined in terms of length. An offender could show up for an hour one day, another hour the next day, and be given credit for two days. HB199 specifies a 30 day sentence will consist of 240 hours and a 60 day sentence will consist of 480 hours.

HB795 passed the House with a vote of 148-0. If this bill becomes law, the second Friday in March will be designated as Missouri School Read-In Day. I introduced this bill as an attempt to draw attention to the importance of developing good reading skills among children. In today’s world of high technology and texting as the main form of communication, proper reading and writing can easily take a back seat. Good jobs depend on good communication skills which in turn are developed by good reading habits.

The House passed its version [HB193] of new congressional districts this week. Every ten years new lines must be drawn to reflect population changes within our state. This year the task took on a higher degree of difficulty when we lost one of our nine congressional seats. The remaining eight districts must absorb additional people to reach the optimal number. Two incumbents would also be combined into one district.

With the House map, not much would change in our area. Barton and Dade Counties would remain in the 4^th District, Jasper County would stay in the 7^th District, and Polk County would continue to be divided between the 4^th and 7^th Districts. In the St. Louis area, incumbents Russ Carnahan and Lacy Clay would be drawn into the same district, possibly setting up a primary showdown. A new map must be agreed upon this session or the lines will be drawn by a panel of judges.