This bill amends the distribution process of the Alcohol Education, Rehabilitation and Enforcement Fund, specifically focusing on the Municipal Court Administration Reimbursement Fund. It updates the base year for calculating drunk driving arrests from 1983 to 2020, requiring municipalities to report their drunk driving arrest numbers annually starting in 2025. The bill also stipulates that the base year will be updated every ten years thereafter, ensuring that the distribution of funds reflects current data and population shifts.

The revised calculation method aims to create a more equitable distribution of funds among municipalities by considering the increase in drunk driving arrests over time. The bill specifies that the increase in arrests for each municipality will be compared to the total increases across all reporting municipalities, and the resulting fraction will determine the allocation of funds for maintaining municipal courts. This change addresses the inadequacies of the previous model, which was based on outdated data from the early 1980s.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 26:2B-35