Daily Herald
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Kane County tries new way to
keep DUI offenders sober
By Tona Kunz
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Friday, March 30, 2007
Kane County court officials hope the newest way to track problem drinkers will have them
sweating —because each little drop of perspiration will tell probation officials if those accused
of offenses involving alcohol or drunken driving are holding fast to their courtroom pledges to
stay sober.
The closer scrutiny on problem drinkers won’t cost taxpayers a cent. In fact, officials say it
could save money in the long run by freeing up jail space.
Kane County State’s Attorney John Barsanti on Thursday announced Kane will become the
third county in the state to use alcohol-detecting ankle bracelets for DUI offenders.
DuPage County began using the 8-ounce bracelets in November and has about 30 people
wearing them. Jackson County, in southern Illinois, started using the bracelets shortly after
DuPage.
Sensors in the bracelets — mirrored after those in Breathalyzers — read the alcohol level of
perspiration hourly and download a daily report to probation officials. The bracelet will detect
the equivalent of a 0.02 (and greater) blood-alcohol content.
Offenders will pay the $15 daily cost of the bracelets and $75 start-up fee to Alcohol
Monitoring Systems of Colorado, which oversees the program. The company also has a
subsidized program for indigent offenders.
Barsanti and chief DUI prosecutor Steve Sims view the bracelets as a tool to force multipleDUI offenders into sobriety by tying a reading of alcohol use by the bracelet to the loss of a
license or jail time.
“Most of the people in the DUI court are not criminals we normally see. These are people with
jobs who need their driver’s licenses,” Barsanti said. “That is the most important thing they
have to keep their job. We can leverage people to change their behavior.”
The bracelets should help ease the burden of watching over the crush of DUI defendants in
the county. Last year, prosecutors saw an 11 percent rise in misdemeanor DUI charges to
2,069 and a 71 percent rise in felony DUIs to 217. The increase was the result of a growing
population, tougher state laws and increased local enforcement.
The bracelets will save money by reducing the time probation officers use for weekly home
visits to conduct random alcohol screenings.
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/printstory.asp?id=296183
4/2/2007
Daily Herald
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About 30,000 people in 32 states are wearing the bracelets. The technology, called SCRAM
for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring, has passed two commonly used legal
thresholds for reliability.
The system has yet to face scrutiny in any state appeals courts since it was launched in
Michigan in 2003 but has survived lower court challenges in nine states, said Robert
Murnock, Midwest regional manager for Alcohol Monitoring Systems.
Initially, Kane will use the bracelets as part of plea bargain sentences and as a way to allow
low-income defendants to volunteer for the bracelets while awaiting trial in exchange for
lower bonds, freeing up jail space.
Barsanti said the bracelets could be expanded to community intervention programs and
domestic violence courtrooms in the future. Officials also are considering adding bracelets to
DUI sentences stemming from trials.
In Illinois, however, civil rights groups and defense attorneys have criticized any move to
make the bracelets mandatory, citing the Big Brother factor.
tkunz@dailyherald.com
dailyherald.com
http://www.dailyherald.com/search/printstory.asp?id=296183
4/2/2007