In 2011, in House Bill 3075, the Oregon legislature passed a bill amending ORS 813.602 and ORS 813.606, requiring an Ignition Interlock Device (IID) be installed in any vehicle driven by a person participating in the DUII diversion program. Previously these provisions dealt only with DUI convictions and allowed for exceptions to the requirement of an IID installation upon a DUI conviction (in order for the employer IID exemption to be effective, the employer must submit an Employer Ignition Interlock Device (IID) Exemption). No exemption to the IID requirement was written into the law for people participating in the DUII diversion program.
The legislature, in Regular Session 2013 House Bill 2116, introduced an amendment to ORS 813.602 that creates an exception to the IID requirement for a person meeting the requirements of a medical exemption established by the DMV to include people involved in the DUI diversion program rather than just people convicted of DUII. The bill also amends ORS 813.606, which established an exception to the IID requirement for people who are required to drive an employer’s vehicle for work, to include people in the DUII diversion program. Thus, this bill fixes the anomaly that exemptions to the IID requirement are allowed for DUI convictions but not the DUI diversion program. The governor signed the bill into law on July 6, 2013.
Upon the bill becoming effective, January 1, 2014, the amendments will apply to offenses occurring “before, on or after the effective date of this 2013 Act.” Thus, prior to the law becoming effective January 1, 2014, people participating in DUI diversion legally are required to have the IID installed in any vehicle they operate. However, in some Oregon counties, some judges have been allowing for the exemptions, even though the bill has not yet become law.
