Bullock signs law to crack down on drunken driving

HELENA (AP) — Gov. Steve Bullock has signed into law a measure that will allow judges to look back 10 years to add penalties for multiple drunken-driving offenders.

Attorney General Tim Fox says his bill sponsored by Republican Rep. Christy Clark of Choteau will create a greater deterrent for drunken drivers and put more offenders into treatment programs.

The attorney general's office says the previous law allowed a DUI conviction to be counted as a person's first offense if more than five years had passed since the last one.

Now, judges can add penalties if another DUI is on a person's record within the last 10 years. A third DUI will count as a third offense regardless of when it happened.

Bullock signed the House Bill 355 on Friday.