Group to study Blaine and Hill county DUI arrests

Hill and Blaine county volunteers are taking part in a yearlong effort to track driving under the influence charges in area courts. The intent of the project, said LuAnn McLain project coordinator for the Hi-Line Community Change Project, is to find out what happens when someone is charged with drunken driving. The volunteers for the Montana DUI Research Project hope to gather data about the offenders' blood-alcohol content, how long it takes the cases to get through the court system and how judges punish the offenders. The project is under way in 17 other Montana counties, she said. Havre City Court, District Court and Justice Court will be involved in the project. Organizers have contacted Rocky Boy Tribal Court about taking part in the study. The Tribe is considering the proposal, McLain said. "DUIs are clearly a problem in Montana, but there is no way to answer seemingly simple questions like, 'What percentage of DUI's get pleaded down to a lesser charge?" said Dave Rhines, a Havre businessman who is taking part in the project. "The data set we create will allow the public, the media, policymakers and anyone else with an interest in this problem to better understand what's really happening out there," he said. McLain said collecting information about DUI's is "a challenge." Information is handled differently in different jurisdictions. There is no central collection of data other than total numbers, she said. No statewide details are available on information such as how many offenders go to court, how many are ordered into treatment and how many are actually sentenced. Communities need a "comprehensive approach to prevent DUIs," said Kevin Buerkle, chief juvenile probation officer in Hill County and a member of the Coalition for Rethinking Drinking. "Knowing what laws or processes need changing is difficult without adequate information," he said. "We want to help get that information."