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INFORMATION BRIEF
Minnesota House of Representatives
Research Department
600 State Office Building
St. Paul, MN 55155
Jim Cleary, Legislative Analyst
651-296-5053
January 2003
Controlling Repeat DWI Offenders
with Staggered Sentencing
This policy brief describes and partially evaluates a new sentencing strategy for
repeat DWI offenders called staggered sentencing. This new sentencing strategy
is being developed and implemented by Judge James Dehn, Tenth District Court,
and by other district court judges in Minnesota. Our preliminary evaluation
suggests that staggered sentencing reduces DWI recidivism by nearly 50 percent,
while saving considerable jail resources.
Contents
Page
Summary......................................................................................................... 2
The Impetus for Staggered Sentencing ........................................................ 3
The Staggered Sentencing Model ................................................................. 5
Examples of Staggered Sentencing............................................................... 7
Preliminary Evaluation of Staggered Sentencing ..................................... 10
Appendix A: An Alternative Model of Staggered Sentencing:
The Gebeck Case.......................................................................................... 11
Appendix B: A Brief Overview of Criminal Sentencing in Minnesota . 13
House Research Department
January 2003
Controlling Repeat DWI Offenders with Staggered Sentencing
Page 2
Summary
This policy brief describes staggered sentencing as a way to reduce recidivism by repeat DWI
offenders. Staggered sentencing has been princi