Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. [Fortune Brands, Inc.] and the National Center for DWI Courts (NCDC) recently awarded Rep. Jerry Madden and Sen. Kel Seliger the National Center for DWI Courts Community Safety Award for their work to pass legislation that has tripled the number of DWI Courts established in Texas since 2007. Texas currently has 25 DWI Courts, including “hybrid” courts that oversee both DWI and drug cases.
House Bill 530 requires a DWI Court in all counties with a population of 200,000 people or more. The bill passed unanimously in both the Texas House of Representatives and Senate and was signed into law in June 2007.
“We are pleased to honor Rep. Madden and Sen. Seliger,” stated David Wallace, director, National Center for DWI Courts. “DWI Courts save lives, and through Rep. Madden and Sen. Seliger’s work, Texas has tripled the number of DWI Courts in the state and is a leader in the battle against hardcore drunk driving.”
“Beam Global Spirits & Wine thanks Rep. Madden and Sen. Seliger for their work to help establish more DWI Courts,” said Matt Stanton, vice president of public affairs, Fortune Brands. “Now in our fourth year supporting the National Center for DWI Courts, we are committed to battling hardcore drunk driving through DWI Courts. Texas has been a leader on this front, and we encourage all states to join us in the fight to eliminate hardcore drunk driving.”
The innovative DWI Court system goes beyond traditional discipline. In addition to a conviction, DWI Courts provide hardcore drunk driving offenders with long-term, ongoing accountability and rehabilitation. As DWI Courts are launched throughout the country, NCDC provides training and research to the personnel needed to operate them.
Hardcore drunk drivers are drivers with a blood alcohol concentration of .15 and above and/or are repeat offenders. These drunk drivers are 20 times more likely to be involved in a crash. In Texas, there were nearly 1,500 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2008 with 26 percent of those deaths caused by hardcore drunk drivers.
“This is a great honor, and I thank the National Center for DWI Courts and Beam Global for their support,” stated Rep. Jerry Madden, District 67. “DWI Courts have proven that long-term ongoing accountability and rehabilitation is more effective than punishment alone. I am proud to support effective and cost-efficient ways to fight alcohol abuse and reduce crime.”
“I appreciate both this award and the shared commitment of my Senate colleagues for making real progress in terms of the rehabilitation of individuals with substance abuse problems, and the protection of the public from those who drive while impaired, while hopefully diverting people away from expensive prison cells that increase the costs to all Texas taxpayers,” stated Sen. Kel Seliger, District 31.
About NCDC
The National Center for DWI Courts is a professional services division of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP), established in 2007 and founded through a partnership with Beam Global Spirits & Wine. Its purpose is to raise awareness about the success of DWI Courts, provide training, technical assistance and research to DWI Courts, and establish new DWI Courts nationwide. NCDC is sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc, The Century Council, and the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, Inc.
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