AUSTIN, Texas — Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would increase penalties for intoxication manslaughter if the driver has already been convicted of a drunk driving offense.
Senate Bill 476 would target those drivers and have safeguards in place, like an interlock device to keep them from driving drunk.
Under the bill, if someone who already has those safeguards in place finds a way to bypass them, drives drunk and kills someone, they would face a first-degree felony charge and a sentence of life in prison. If the offender is under 18, they could get parole; but if they’re older than 18, they would not be eligible for parole.
Under current Texas law, intoxication manslaughter is a second-degree felony.
Victims of drunk driving spoke at a hearing on SB 476 on Tuesday. They said the bill could stop more tragedies from happening to Texans because of drunk drivers.
“In December 2023, my 9-year-old nephew was killed in a car wreck caused by a drunk driver. This topic hits close to home for me,” one person who testified said. “Through my family’s agony, the realization became just as painful. We are not the first family to have to endure this, we weren’t even the only family that day that had to endure it. It is time that we, as a state and a nation, take all necessary measures to address the epidemic of drunk driving.”
SB 476 was left pending in committee.
This isn’t the only bill related to intoxication manslaughter that lawmakers have considered this session. Late last month, the House Committee on Corrections took up House Bill 2017, also known as “Grayson’s Law.” It would establish a 10-year minimum sentence with no parole for intoxication manslaughter if the crime was committed by someone in the U.S. illegally.
That bill was also left pending in committee.