Get Answers: Abuse of ignition interlock fund

one viewer asks: how can a convicted d-w-i offender convince a judge that taxpayers should pay fo...  More »

one viewer asks: how can a convicted d-w-i offender convince a judge that taxpayers should pay for the ignition interlock in his car--when he's driving a 65 thousand dollar s-u-v? that question had us wondering... so went sent investigative reporter jeremy jojola to dig for the answer. and what he found is abuse in the state's indigent interlock fund. jeremy: 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---but not everyone is telling the truth--and you end up paying for their lie. every year about nine-thousand new mexicans convicted of drunk driving get ignition interlocks. "interlock nats." most pay the required cost---up to 100- dollars to install it, up to 100 dollars a mont to rent it, and then another 100- dollars to have it removed. they also pay another 100-dollars that goes into the state's indigent interlock fund. a fund created by lawmakers to help low-income folks have part of their interlock cost covered. you also pay into the fund when you buy alcohol. about three- hundred thousand dollars a year from state alcohol taxes is put in the fund. about one-out-of three people with interlocks use the fund, claming they can't afford it, and get up to more than half their interlock costs covered. that's about three thousand people a year. but we found some may be lying. we dug through records of nearly three-thousand cars that had indigent interlocks installed. dozens are suspicious. 2008 model suvs and trucks like nissan titans, chevy avalanches, toyota tundras and ford f-250's. we found cadillac escalades. 2009 motorcycles, like harley davidsons and kawasakis. and even a 2009 bmw. we couldn't track these people down, because driver information is private. so 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. "so clearly, there are some people who are getting by with utilizing the indigent fund who could really afford to install the interlock themselves." dr. dick roth of the group impact dwi, wh helped push for the fund, says relying on judges and the courts to gauge who's indigent clearly allowes 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." he believes the state should designate one person to over see applicants, by checking their tax forms and check- sts. "we think that the indigent fund is important, and we think it supports our goal, which is to make our roads safer." tim hallford an interlock provider and vice-president of the interlock association says the fund no-doubt saves lives, and helps those who really need it. but he says he's seen abuse first-hand. "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. "so the clever people that are breaking the law driving are breaking the law again by lying about their economic status." as for the state department of transportation---t he agency responsible for managing the fund, spokesperson mark slimp says it would take an act of the legislature to change how people are determined to be indigent. "jojola: some of them appear to be quite suspect. escalades, bmw's, brand new harley davidson motorcycles. what are you thoughs on that." "slimp: 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 persons 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. but as long as convicts are allowed to lie to judges who take their word, the fund will be abused at your expense. on a side note---it's even contributing to another problem. the people who manage the fund are so swamped with paperwork---it often takes months for interlock businesses to be reimbursed. some companies are owed more than 100-grand  « Less