Sonoma County District Attorney Awarded DUI Prosecution Grant

Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office received a $255,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a special team to prosecute alcohol and drug-impaired driving cases.   

District Attorney Jill Ravitch noted, “Maintaining a specialized unit to handle DUI cases significantly enhances our ability to prosecute these cases aggressively, and to develop expertise in this area of the law. Ultimately we are seeking to reduce recidivism of impaired drivers, and this grant funding from OTS helps us achieve that goal.”  

“If you drink or use drugs and decide to drive, you put lives at risk,” OTS Director Barbara Rooney said. “This funding from the OTS makes sure that those who make the choice to drive under the influence are held accountable for their actions.”  

In addition to forming a special prosecution team, funding will be used to: 

• Develop protocols for handling cases through every step of the criminal process.
• Provide training for prosecutors and investigators through California’s Traffic Safety Resource Prosecutor Program.
• Host quarterly regional meetings with law enforcement partners to improve DUI investigations and prosecutions.  

This is the ninth year the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office has received funding from the OTS for a DUI prosecution program. Last year, the prosecution team filed 255 DUI cases, including 71 DUI drug cases and 15 DUI combined alcohol and drug cases.  

The grant program runs from Ocober. 1, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021.    

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.