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A third DUI offense in a decade could become a Class D felony in Kentucky.

That's if House Bill 220 heard in committee today becomes law.

Supporters say if you repeatedly drive impaired knowing the consequences, you deserve to spend time behind bars.

Kentucky Edition's McKenzie Spink has more.

Under current Kentucky state law, it's not until your fourth DUI that you are charged with a felony.

Proponents of House Bill 220 say increasing the penalty to make your third offense a felony would deter repeat offenders and make our roads safer.

I would tell you, in my experiences of 14 years as a prosecutor, the most difficult and heart wrenching conversations I ever have are with families who have had a loved one killed by an impaired driver or with people who have been seriously physically injured by an impaired driver, especially in situations where that person has prior convictions for driving under the influence.

People like the family of Brianna Bradshaw.

If this bill is successful, I'd ask you all to consider naming this Breonna's law.

Brianna went to live in Muhlenberg County and went over to Ohio County to spend the night with a friend, and while in a mild county, she was killed by an impaired driver.

That driver had a .256 I'm sorry, 0.253 blood alcohol content.

He also had amphetamines and methamphetamines and THC in his system.

That impaired driver also had three prior convictions for driving under the influence.

Grand juries look at me in these situations, wondering and asking, how are these people not already in prison?

There's far more people driving impaired that don't get caught than do get caught.

So if you've been caught for the third offense, you've got a problem and you're in danger.

Our families.

Our communities.

An opponent of the bill, Scott West of the Kentucky Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, agrees that repeat offenders have a problem, but says making those offenders felons doesn't help them solve that problem.

He thinks the solution lies in escalating the penalties for the third offense, but still keeping it a misdemeanor.

You can't get Section eight housing.

You can't find a job.

It's hard to pull yourself back up once it's a felony.

And you can be just as hard jail wise and just as stringent in requiring someone to get help.

Real help if you make it a hard jail time misdemeanor, that is mandatory.

The response from the bill's supporters is that a third DUI offense deserves the harsher sentence because they know the risks.

If somebody picks up a third offense DUI within ten years, I believe they've earned that, Tony.

They've been in court twice before and read the penalties and now they'll be in court every time reading those penalties under the prior offenses, if that makes sense.

This bill would also require a minimum jail sentence of 120 days for a third offense.

House Bill 220 passed unanimously out of committee and now heads to the House floor for Kentucky Edition.

I'm Mackenzie Spink.