Every year, Washington State legislature amends the DUI laws in an effort to make the DUI laws even tougher or to “tune up ” the laws. This year’s legislative session resulted in the passage of HB 3124, a law that went into effect June 10, 2010. The law requires that a police officer who makes a DUI arrest must “promptly notify Child Protective Services” whenever a child under the age of thirteen is present in the vehicle. The details are in the full text of the law, presented below.

There are already a number of “automatic” consequences that accompany a DUI arrest. For instance, if the breath test reading is over 0.08, expect mandatory license suspension, mandatory jail, mandatory fines, mandatory ignition interlock, mandatory conditions of probation, and now, mandatory reporting of the parent’s name to child protective services. It is worth noting that this law applies not only in DUI arrests, but to an arrest for any “drug or alcohol related driving offense.” Also, the law applies only when the vehicle is being driven by a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of the child. As a side note, Washington’s DUI laws also require an increased penalty of sorts in the case of an individual who is convicted of DUI and who had a child under the age of 16 in the vehicle: an additional 60 days of driving only with an ignition interlock will be required beyond whatever other licensing penalties may be imposed. See RCW 46.61.5055(6).

The full text of the law is set forth below.

A law enforcement officer shall promptly notify child protective services whenever a child is present in a vehicle being driven by his or her parent, guardian, or legal custodian and that person is being arrested for a drug or alcohol-related driving offense. This section does not require law enforcement to take custody of the child unless there is no other responsible person, or an agency having the right to physical custody of the child that can be contacted, or the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the child should be taken into custody pursuant to RCW 13.34.050 or 26.44.050. For purposes of this section, “child” means any person under thirteen years of age.

Any Washington State DUI arrest is a serious matter. The lawyers at Fox Bowman Duarte are available 24/7 to help. Call (425) 451-1995 to reach us.