By Hasso Hering
State Rep. Andy Olson has won House approval to fix an injustice against drivers falsely arrested for drunken driving - and to prevent any more of the same.
Last Monday, all 60 House members voted to pass HB 2318, which repairs a problem in Oregon law.
The bill moved to the Senate where, as of Friday, it had not yet been assigned to a committee.
The problem is that existing law bars people from having the records of an arrest expunged if it was for a state or municipal traffic offense, including drunken driving, even if the driver was never prosecuted and the charge was dropped.
The fear is that unwarranted arrests, lurking in the records for life, might hurt people later, perhaps by keeping them from getting a job or in some other way.
The problem cropped up in Corvallis in 2007, when an overzealous police officer arrested at least four drivers for driving under the influence even though they proved to be sober.
At least two lawsuits were filed against the city claiming false arrest. At last report the suits were still pending, but the officer involved resigned and moved to Idaho and started a private investigation company, specializing in helping clients defend themselves in DUII cases.
Olson, R-Albany, said he started working on the issue a year ago. He served on the interim judiciary committee that prepared the bill, and he carried the bill on the House floor last week.
Olson said the bill would help drivers who are mistakenly arrested for drunken driving in the future, and it also would be retroactive to arrests already on the books.
The House Republican office last week issued a press release which, apparently mistakenly, said the legislation was not retroactive. Olson said making it retroactive was part of the main point. A summary of the bill for the House Judiciary Committee, on which Olson serves, says this about the bill:
"Under ORS 137.225, persons who have been arrested or convicted of a state or municipal traffic offense may not have those arrests or convictions expunged from their record. HB2318 eliminates the language that prevents a person who was arrested, but not convicted, for a traffic offense from having the arrest expunged.
"Additional language in the bill provides that an arrest for DUII may not be expunged in cases where the charges were dismissed pursuant to a person's successful completion of a diversion program."
There has been no explanation why current law prevents the expungement of unwarranted traffic arrests if no charges are brought or no conviction results.