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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Foley

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/29/07

HB 568

SHORT TITLE Study Non-Invasive Alcohol Detection

SB

ANALYST Propst

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Department of Health (DOH)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Making an Appropriation to Study the Effectiveness of non-invasive Alcohol Detection Devices

House Bill 568 makes an appropriation of $100.0 from the General Fund to the Department of

Finance and Administration for expenditure in FY08 to study the effectiveness and feasibility of

using non-invasive alcohol detection devices capable of alcohol testing and identity verification

for use by the Corrections Department, Department of Public Safety, Department of Health,

Department of Transportation, Public Regulation Commission and other agencies.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the General Fund.

Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to the

General Fund.

House Bill 568 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Department of Health reports that almost all offenders convicted of impaired driving are

ordered to abstain from consuming alcohol as a condition of sentencing or probation. In general,

however, significant staffing, resource and cost implications prohibit the use of regular and

consistent blood, breath or urine testing during the probation/sentencing period.

Numerous technologies are available that employ electronic monitoring as a method of

supervising offenders remotely. Electronic alcohol monitoring systems are used by probation

and parole officers to track offenders whose movements and schedules are restricted to approved

places and activities. Other systems can administer random alcohol and drug tests to check

court-ordered conditions.

One system, Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM), is currently in use in

New Mexico and 38 other states. Other states have done pilot studies to assess the effectiveness

of SCRAM devices. A study of the effectiveness and feasibility of using SCRAM devices in

New Mexico was not found, but would be appropriate to assess the application of this technology

to monitor impaired driving offenders in New Mexico.

In addition, because there are other non-invasive alcohol detection devices being used in New

Mexico, such as the ignition interlock device, clarification of the subject and scope of their

effectiveness and feasibility study may be recommended.

WEP/csd