SALT LAKE CITY — A bill aimed at clarifying the definition of intoxication for over-service at Utah bars is headed to the full House for a vote.
Friday morning, House Bill 247 passed out of the Utah House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee.
Rep. Ken Ivory (R-West Jordan), who is sponsoring the bill, spearheaded the legislation after 13-year-old Eli Mitchell was hit and killed by a drunk driver in West Jordan last April.
"The Eli Mitchell situation was a tragedy. You had someone sitting in a bar for multiple hours, and coming out of the bar more than four times over the legal limit is the allegation," said Ivory.
Ivory said his bill requires record retention. He says it's also to make sure records aren't destroyed and that they're turned over to police for investigations.
"It provides a path for people that have been injured from over service to have a path to have their day in court," said Rep. Ivory.
It's a bill that Art Brown, the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, is passionate about.
"To get in a crash, it's really a violent way to die in a violently way of being injured," said Brown.
Brown lost one of his grandchildren in a drunk driving accident back in 1999. He says he found out the person behind the wheel was served in a bar for six hours, leaving after having 21 drinks.
"We've not been able to prosecute anybody successfully at all over the last five years or more because the definition needs to be clarified," said Brown.
The Mitchell family was in attendance for Friday's committee meeting.
"It makes me proud and sad to know that he was doing everything right that day," said Lisa Mitchell, Eli's mother. "He was walking his bike, he was wearing his helmet, he was yielding to the crosswalk."
Ten months after the incident that took her son's life, Mitchell says things haven't gotten any easier.
"It's gotten harder, surprisingly, there are elements that have definitely gotten more difficult," she said.
While H.B. 247 passed out of committee, there were some changes made to the bill. This includes certifying video surveillance and other records are properly made and maintained for license renewal.
Also struck was allowing a person to seek damages greater than the maximum amount of damages awarded in an action under the Alcohol Product Liability Act under certain circumstances. That was changed to say that a person is liable for an injury or death that results from the intoxication of another individual.
Despite that, the Mitchell family says they are happy to see some progress made.
"Even if it's small baby steps towards better, that's at least a step forward," said Mitchell.
