Ignition interlock fund abuse

If you're convicted of drunk driving, the law requires you get an interlock if you want to drive, but some people say they can't afford the punishment, and get the state to pay part of the cost.

Not everyone is telling the truth, and you end up paying for their lie.

Every year, about 9,000 New Mexicans convicted of DWI get ignition interlocks. Most pay the required cost: Up to $100 to install it, up to $100 a month to rent it, and then another $100 to have it removed.

They also pay another $100 that goes into the state's Indigent Interlock Fund.

That's a fund created by lawmakers to help low-income folks have part of their interlock cost covered.

You also pay into that fund when you buy alcohol.

About $300,000 a year from state alcohol taxes is put into the fund.

About one out of three people with interlocks use the fund, claiming they can't afford it— they get up to half of their interlock costs covered.

That's about 3,000 people a year, but we found some may be lying.

We dug through records of nearly 3,000 cars that had indigent interlocks installed. Dozens are suspicious.

We found 2008 model SUVs and trucks like Nissan Titans, Chevy Avalanches, Toyota Tundras and Ford F-250s.

We found Cadillac Escalades, 2009 motorcycles—like Harley Davidsons and Kawasakis. Even a 2009 BMW.

We couldn't track these people down, because driver information is private.

How do they claim they're low-income?

The law says judges and probation officers determine who needs the fund.

Under oath, in a courtroom, convicts tell a judge they can't afford it.

Often, judges take people at their word or assume because they have a public defender, they are indigent.

Impact DWI's Dr. Dick Roth said, "So clearly, there are some people who are getting by with utilizing the indigent fund who could really afford to install the interlock themselves."

Roth, whose group helped push for the fund, says relying on judges and the courts to gauge who is indigent clearly allows convicts to lie and abuse the system.

He says in the long run, that's not the best way to gauge who needs the fund.

"The fund had a surplus up until this year, but that surplus is rapidly being eroded because so many people are qualifying under our present standards," Dr. Roth said.

He believes the state should designate one person to oversee applicants, by checking their tax forms and check stubs.

Tim Hallford, Interlock provider and vice president of the Interlock Association said, "We think that the indigent fund is important, and we think it supports our goal, which is to make our roads safer."

He says the fund no doubt saves lives, and helps those who really need it, but he says he's seen abuse first-hand.

Hallford said, "We just have somebody that walks in the door with a court order that tells us we to put this on the motorcycle, and the car, and we do. And we've also been known to call probation officers and the courts and say, hey, this guy's driving a new car, and I don't know that he's indigent. And I do know, at times, there has been a response where people have been removed from the indigency because of our call."

Linda Atkinson of the DWI Resource Center calls what we found absurd, and says there needs to be more oversight.

Atkinson said, "So the clever people that are breaking the law driving are breaking the law again by lying about their economic status."

As for the New Mexico Department of Transportation— the agency responsible for managing the fund— spokesman Mark Slimp says it would take an act of the legislature to change how people are determined to be indigent.

Slimp said, "Well, my thoughts don't really count. I'm sure there are probably some that would seem suspicious at first glance, although no one really knows what an actually person's financial status is."

So what's the answer? The state admits the law has allowed a lot of people to claim they're low-income and calls itself a victim of interlock success.

As long as convicts are allowed to lie to judges who take their word, the fund will be abused at your expense.

One side note— The abuse is even contributing to another problem: Paperwork.

It often takes months for interlock businesses to be reimbursed.

Some companies are owed more than $100,000.


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DWI

A 39-year-old Minneapolis man was arrested for second-degree DWI, expired license plates and no proof of insurance after he was stopped for driving 32 mph in a 50 mph zone in the 14200 block of Quentin Avenue on Nov. 6. According to police, the man has two previous DWI convictions.

On Nov. 7 a 48-year-old woman from Savage was arrested for fourth-degree DWI after police responded to a report of a wrong-way driver in the 8800 block of Carriage Hill Road.

A 30-year-old Plymouth man was arrested for fourth-degree DWI after he was stopped for speeding near Highway 13 and West 128th Street on Nov. 8.


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