Public safety advocates are confident that after two years of failed attempts to strengthen Tennessee’s DUI laws, state lawmakers will approve legislation to reduce alcohol-related fatalities.

Others, seeing opposition to the only DUI-related bill Gov. Phil Bredesen sponsored, are not so sure.

“Some people think it’s the only way to save lives, and there are statistics to show that,” said state Rep. Henry Fincher, D-Cookeville, a member of the House Judiciary Committee which is expected to vote on the Tennessee Administrative License Revocation Act in coming weeks.

“Other people think it’s an opportunity for abuse in small-town departments. ... This is going to be the subject of a lot of debate,” he said.

The proposed legislation gives police the right to seize a driver’s license immediately from suspected offenders who refuse a DUI test or test over the legal limit.

A version of the bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously last week, giving hope to Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. They say similar measures have shown reductions in fatal crashes in other states by 9 percent through deterring offenders from taking the wheel.

Laura Dial, executive director of MADD Tennessee, said, “We have some large, bipartisan support.”

Ms. Dial is lobbying for a number of DUI laws this session, including a reduction in the state’s 0.08 blood-alcohol content threshold and the use of ignition interlock devices for convicted DUI offenders. But she said the license revocation proposal is the best hope for an immediate change.

Hamilton County Assistant District Attorney Jay Woods, the office’s DUI prosecutor, said the new law is needed.

“Administrative license revocation would significantly strengthen the implied consent law, adding some bite to the refusal to take a blood alcohol test,” Mr. Woods wrote in an e-mail.

However, Randy Nichols, district attorney general for Knox County and chairman Tennessee Public Safety Coalition, believes the proposed law “is on life support.”

“She’s deader than four o’clock,” said Mr. Nichols, who sat in on the Senate debate. “The pitch in Nashville is that we are giving too much power to our friends with a badge.”

This opposition has merit, according to Chattanooga defense attorney Johnny Houston.

The administrative license revocation bill promotes a system “like that movie ‘Judge Dredd,’ where Sylvester Stallone is the judge, and he can decide on the spot whether you’re innocent or guilty,” Mr. Houston said. “While I believe the law is well-intended, I just don’t think it passes constitutional muster.”

Gov. Bredesen’s support should bolster its chances of passing, according to Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, a longtime DUI law supporter who co-sponsored the legislation.

After forming a DUI law task force to study the issue in 2006, he said, Gov. Bredesen has gone a step further this year by sponsoring the license revocation bill and budgeting close to $5 million to pay for the administrative judges needed to put the program into place.

However, Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, noted that the governor does not have the final say in the matter.

“The fact that the governor has put it in his budget does not make me any more or any less likely to vote for it,” Rep. McCormick said. “Just because the governor has put money toward it doesn’t mean that money has been put toward it, because the legislature has to vote to approve the governor’s budget.”

PROPOSED LEGISLATION

The Tennessee Administrative License Revocation Act of 2008 (SB4196/HB4213) is part of Gov. Phil Bredesen’s legislative package.

The proposed bill would allow a law enforcement officer to seize the driver’s license of motorists stopped for driving under the influence or for refusing a test to determine blood-alcohol or drug content, rather than let them continue driving until their cases are heard in court.

After stopping motorists, police would issue temporary paper licenses.

The DUI suspect would be assigned a hearing over the telephone with an administrative law judge, who could approve a restricted license to allow that person to drive to work or school, for example.