ELECTRONIC HOME DETENTION

Washington's harsh DUI laws all involve mandatory imposition of a jail sentence upon any DUI conviction, and these laws have aggravated a preexisting system-wide problem of jail overcrowding. In response to this problem, Electronic Home Detention (EHD) is now used in certain cases. A person who is given electronic home detention serves all or part of a jail sentence in detention at home, but is also permitted to go to work at regulated times. The detainee wears an ankle bracelet or a device like a wristwatch which communicates by radio with a "home base" located in the detainee's home. The home base is connected to the detainee's home telephone line, and communicates with a computer, typically located in a probation office. The home base also can contain a breath testing device which allows for random alcohol testing. If the detainee is not within a prescribed distance from the home base, a "violation" is recorded and reported automatically to the probation office. A violation of home detention conditions will result in the jail time being served in "hard time" in a traditional jail facility.

The cost of home detention is borne by the detainee, who "rents" the equipment and pays the probation department for monitoring compliance. The fee can run from several hundred dollars to much more, depending upon the length of the required home detention.

The newest EHD equipment has the capability to use voice recognition technology and Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) to monitor and report the detainee's exact location twenty four hours per day.

EHD might seem like a desirable alternative to "real" jail, especially for a person with no prior DUI arrests, but a little-known section of the law has a huge impact on the decision whether to request EHD or not. Under RCW 46.61.5055 for a first offense DUI, the minimum jail time is either one or two days in jail, depending upon the breath test result and other factors. A person with no prior DUI offenses may ask to serve this time on EHD but if that request is granted, FIFTEEN days of EHD must be served for every ONE day of jail that otherwise would be served. Thus, two days of jail is served as thirty days of EHD, three days of jail equates to forty-five days of EHD, and so on. Further, what is not generally understood about EHD is that the option of serving jailtime as EHD may be imposed by the judge's order on sentencing whether the defendant wants it or not.

For anyone with a with prior DUI offense, EHD is mandatory and follows a period of serving jail in a "real" jail. For instance, a person with one prior conviction whose breath test is under .15% will serve thirty days in jail followed by sixty days of EHD as a minimum sentence. Judges are free, of course, to impose any sentence up to the maximum (365 days in jail/$5,000 fine) in any case.

In cases where EHD is mandatory it may not be waived by the court except under limited circumstances as detailed in RCW 46.61.5055:

1. A court may waive the electronic home monitoring requirements of this chapter when:
1. The offender does not have a dwelling, telephone service, or any other necessity to operate an electronic home monitoring system;
2. The offender does not reside in the state of Washington;
3. The court determines that there is reason to believe that the offender would violate the conditions of the electronic home monitoring penalty.
2. Whenever the mandatory minimum term of electronic home monitoring is waived, the court shall state in writing the reason for granting the waiver and the facts upon which the waiver is based, and shall impose an alternative sentence with similar punitive consequences. The alternative sentence may include, but is not limited to, additional jail time, work crew, or work camp.
3. Whenever the combination of jail time and electronic home monitoring or alternative sentence would exceed three hundred sixty-five days, the offender shall serve the jail portion of the sentence first, and the electronic home monitoring or alternative portion of the sentence shall be reduced so that the combination does not exceed three hundred sixty-five days.

Electronic Home Detention will likely grow in use as the technology increases in sophistication, decreases in price, and the punishment continues to increase for a conviction for DUI.