LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In the wake of a high profile DUI case, Kentucky's DUI laws are once again under the microscope. Many are laying out what they call reasonable changes, calling on state legislators to take action.

Around 9:30 p.m. on September 18, a pregnant Sara Neathamer and her two young children were hit and severely injured by an alleged drunk driver while leaving Disney on Ice at the KFC Yum! Center. Police identified the driver as 64-year-old Russell Mullins.

According to court documents, the incident outside the Yum! Center earned Mullins his fourth DUI charge.

"He has proven that you can put whatever conditions you want on him, and it's not going to keep him from drinking," Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Kristi Gray argued in Mullins' pre-trial hearing. "It's not going to keep him from driving. Otherwise we wouldn't be here."

Mullins' case is a familiar story to the Jefferson County Attorney's Office. 

"Kentucky could be tougher. Our drunk driving laws could be tougher," Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell said.

Even with a 92% conviction rate in O'Connell's office last year, prosecutors say the penalties handed down by judges aren't stiff enough.

"It almost makes you wonder, how serious do they [judges] take it," Paul Richwalsky, with the Jefferson County Attorney's DUI division, said.

But when it comes to repeat offenders, like Mullins, judges and prosecutors alike are fighting the same problem: a lack of DUI laws.

Mother's Against Drunk Driving says 75% of new DUI cases opened in Kentucky this past year were repeat offenders.

Those statistics are a driving force for MADD's campaign to extend Kentucky's current DUI look back law.

As of right now, a judge can't take a previous DUI into consideration during sentencing, if that DUI has occurred more than five years ago--so essentially that DUI has been wiped from your record.

A proposal in the Kentucky legislature to double it to 10 years has never been able to get out of committee.

"There are some advocates that believe an offense -- especially one that results in a fatality and or critical injury -- should be on your record for a lifetime," MADD representative Rosalind Donald said. "However, ten years would be a good compromise."

Toughening laws and increasing punishment for repeat offenders is something Sara McKinney is passionate about. Her younger brother, Jimmy McKinney, was killed by a drunk driver who went on to reoffend.

"There were so many times that she reoffended and still she didn't go to prison," McKinney said. "It was very shocking when we found out it was a 51-year-old school teacher."

Roberta Brammer was shock probated after serving only one month for the hit-and-run death of Jimmy McKinney. She went on to be charged with two more DUIs.

The situation prompted McKinney to get behind a push to bring ignition interlock devices to Kentucky, opening her own installation shop in the Newburg neighborhood. The device doesn't allow drivers to start their car without submitting to a breath test first.

"It's not a silver bullet," McKinney said. "But it is the very best tool available right now for stopping drunk driving."

The ignition interlock device is already mandatory in 25 states for offenders with a BAC of .08 or higher on first offense. Those states include Tennessee, Missouri, West Virginia and Illinois.

"You think you can get a friend to blow and get it started," Richwalsky said. "No, it doesn't work that way because it's going to shut off on you in a couple minutes and you're going to have to blow again."

Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell says you rarely see ignition interlocks in Kentucky because the defendant must agree to it. Plus, it's only an option for repeat offenders. O'Connell says he would like to force it on defendants whether it's their first or fifth offense.

"It gives us another tool in our tool box in which we try and keep these people off the roads," O'Connell said.

As the legislature continues to put off changes to DUI laws, McKinney keeps up hope. Hope that no other sister has to learn to live without her little brother.

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