How Does Ohio Spend Federal OVI Grant Money?

Ohio OVI Grant Money Breakdown

Earlier this week I gave you a breakdown of the OVI grant money received by Ohio in fiscal year 2015 from various federal grant programs. As you will recall the total was a whopping $18,020,292.  Of that money, $5,028,774 was received by Ohio in FY 2015 to fight OVI. This post will focus on the Section 405(d) grants that are specifically targeting impaired drivers.

Under the federal program (SAFETEA-LU), Ohio was eligible for this grant in one of two ways:

• By satisfying the performance criteria of an alcohol-related fatality rate of 0.5 or below per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT); OR
• By satisfying three of the following programmatic eligibility criteria in FY 2006, four in FY 2007 and five in FY 2008 and FY 2009 (and beyond):
  • Checkpoint or saturation patrol program
  • Prosecution or adjudication outreach program
  • BAC testing program
  • High risk driver program
  • Program for effective alcohol rehabilitation or DWI courts
  • Underage drinking program
  • Administrative license revocation law
  • Self-sustaining impaired driving program

OVI Grant Money For Checkpoints

What this shows is that Ohio is eligible for the programs under the “problematic eligibility criteria.”  That money is used to fund most or all of the programs this site finds objectionable under the Ohio and United States Constitution.  I am not alone.

While Ohio and 38 other states, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands conduct sobriety checkpoints, in 12 states, sobriety checkpoints are not conducted. Some states prohibit them by state law or Constitution (or interpretation of state law or Constitution). Texas prohibits them based on the its interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Obviously, those states survive without this OVI grant money.

All states define driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08 percent as a crime, but specific laws and penalties vary substantially from state to state. 42 states, the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands have administrative license suspension (ALS) on the first offense. ALS allows law enforcement to confiscate a driver’s license for a period of time if he fails a chemical test. Most of these states, as Ohio does, allow limited driving privileges (such as to/from work).

Follow the links provided for more information on the checkpoint/saturation patrols or the Administrative License Revocation law. You can reach Charles Rowland, Dayton DUI attorney, at (937) 318-1384 or 888-ROWLAND.