Hennepin County's New Policies

If you were arrested in Hennepin County and your breath test reading was .19 or below, the latest policy is that you will be ordered to attend a a day long class called the Hennepin County One Day Program.  The program is conducted on Saturdays and usually runs between 7:30am and 6:30 pm. It includes a self-conducted alcohol/chemical use evaluation, several hours of classes and a victim impact presentation.  The victim impact material has traditionally be presented by a crew from Mother's Against Drunk Driving or a similar organization

The four locations for the program are the Government Center downtown, the Earle Brown Center in Brooklyn Center, the Ridgedale Library and the Behind Mall of America on Killebrew Drive.  As of the most recent edit of this page, the official brochure which is linked above said that the fee for the program is $275, but the fee had been raised by nearly another $100.  There is a discount for those who qualify for the public defender.

If your breath test reading was higher than .19, the Hennepin County policy is that you be referred to a probation officer for a pre-sentence investigation.  If you have a your own private evaluation, the probation officer will probably go over that with you as part of the "investigation."  You will also be asked to fill out this RIA Self Inventory questionnaire, which is posted here on this site.  Take a good look and think about those questions before you answer.  Be aware that some questions are there for the purpose of seeing how defensive you may be.  Some of the questions are similar to the Michigan Alcohol Screening test, to which you will find a link on my DWI Test page.  You would be well advised to look at that too.

Besides the RIA Self Inventory, the probation department will have you fill out an Intake Questionnaire.   If you fill out both of these before you get to the courthouse, you might save a lot of time waiting in the probation office.  The probation officers talk with people in the order that people in their lobby turn in the forms.  Turning yours in first could save you anywhere between an hour and half a day. If you are my client, I might ask you to come to court with these forms already completed. 

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The Ramsey County ASUDS and DWC Programs:

Ramsey County as of early 2006 has quit sending offenders to the Anoka County program at Lino Lakes (see below) and has adopted their own two part program.  Part one is  the Adult Substance Use and Driving Survey (ASUDS), which consists of a series of questions which are asked by a probation officer as part of an interview which usually takes place after the entry of a guilty plea.  Part two is an education and treatment program called Driving with care.  After asking a lot of questions about this new program, we received this fax about the Ramsey County program which seems to lay it all out.

Ramsey County is getting tough.  This program appears to be one of the harshest in the state.  The first time offender having a reading of .14 or less is required to attend twelve hours of classes, perhaps more.  The first time offender having a reading of .15 or higher is expected to attend 24 hours of education followed by at least 21 sessions (42 hours) of therapy.    

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The Anoka County Two Day DWI Program:

In Anoka County almost nobody escapes having to attend the overnight program at Lino Lakes.  It is given once in the middle of the week and once on weekends.  Typically a person reports early on Saturday morning and stays their until 6 pm or so on Sunday.  This overnight alcohol information seminar put is on by the Corrections Department in Anoka County.  Click the following lint to see the handout about where it is, when it is and what to bring.

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