The 13th Judicial District has received new grant funding to help prosecute DUI cases.
District Attorney Bryant Dunaway said the over $200,000 grant renews every three years. Dunaway said that the grant allows his office to pay for labor that would otherwise be unaffordable in efficiently prosecuting DUIs.
“What that enables this office to do is to put a lawyer, a prosecutor, in place that focuses specifically and especially on the enforcement and prosecution of impaired driving cases,” Dunaway said.
Dunaway said that his district has applied for and received the grant for many years previous to this most recent renewal. He said that the grant approval has allowed his staff to tackle an issue he believes to be of great public importance.
“The volume of impaired cases is high,” Dunaway said. “In two counties of our district, I have one lawyer who handles just those types of cases, you can imagine the volume in how much impaired driving cases are.”
Dunaway said that DUIs can be seen as a minor offense by some, but are often not far away from causing to all county drivers.
“We take that prosecution seriously because impaired driving is a great public safety concern,” Dunaway said. “Impaired driving is not just driving and drinking but we’re seeing more and more where impaired drivers are impaired by drugs and not just alcohol.”
Dunaway said that a mix of drugs other than alcohol in the bodily systems of DUI offenders has become increasingly common. He said that this problem is far more than just a District 13 issue, but has been felt all over as drug use has become more prevalent.
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