A state law took effect on Monday, Dec. 22, allowing harsher penalties for repeat offenders who drive under the influence.

The law was proposed after a Supreme Court ruling decided an initial DUI charge cannot be counted as a conviction in a future DUI case after someone has completed Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition, or ARD.

The state Supreme Court ruled in Commonwealth v. Shifflett meant if a person was charged with DUI a second time, it would be sentenced as their first offense if they had successfully gone through ARD.

“That means basically, you get a free DUI,” said Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger.

The Dec. 22 law, which was proposed in response to the decision, closed the loophole by adding a subsection that deals with DUI following diversion.

Goldinger said the ARD diversion program is a period of less than two years probation for first-time offenders that includes treatment, community service, costs and possible reduced license suspensions compared to a guilty verdict. Completing the program enables the participant to have their charges dismissed and record expunged.

State Rep. Rob Kauffman, R-Chambersburg, who proposed the new law, said prosecutors for decades treated acceptance into the ARD program as a first-time DUI offense, which allowed for increased penalties if a person was charged with a second DUI.

“To the extent possible, this bill sought to restore and maintain the law as it existed prior to the Shifflett decision,” Kauffman said.

The law applies only to DUI offenses committed after Dec. 22. Defense attorneys have argued the change could surprise drivers who completed ARD with increased penalties, but Kauffman argued defense attorneys may still advise their clients subsequent offenses could result in increased penalties. ARD must also be entered on the record in court.

“This safeguards due process and ensures that defendants fully understand the legal consequences of entering diversion,” he said.

Goldinger said there are currently some pending cases in the county where harsher penalties may be imposed because of the new law.

“It’s how we’ve done things forever, and it’s how things should be done,” Goldinger said.

Goldinger added his office briefly stopped offering ARD because he didn’t want to give people a “free DUI,” and defense attorneys weren’t pleased.

Goldinger does not believe the law will deter repeat offenders. He said most offenders aren’t thinking about the penalties when deciding to drive under the influence, but it will help citizens stay safe by keeping offenders off the road.

In the law, each reference of “drug and alcohol abuse” was removed in favor of “substance use disorder.”

Kauffman said substance use disorder is the clinically accepted term used in modern health care and aligning the statutory language with clinical standards improves clarity and consistency across agencies.

“This change also ensures that courts, probation departments and treatment providers are operating from the same definitions when ordering evaluations and treatment,” Kauffman said.

Rachel Shuster, an addictions nurse in recovery for opioid use disorder, welcomed the change in language.

“It’s really encouraging to me to see that happening on the legislative level. There has been so much advocacy for this on the clinical side,” Shuster said.

Shuster said she’s been in sustained remission for opioid use disorder since July 2016. She had used opioids as a nurse and accidentally overdosed at work.

“It was quite a long journey to make it where I am today,” Shuster said.

She underwent a long monitoring program with the State Board of Nursing and was able to return to work with stipulations. She submitted more than 90 applications and had 30 interviews before she became an addictions nurse in January 2017.

Shuster said the stigma surrounding addiction feels both like a scarlet letter and a structural barricade the average person can do little about, but changing the language reforms it as a recoverable disorder that gives hope to those impacted.

She explained substance use disorder has 10 classes outlined in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The spectrum disorder can be classified as mild, moderate or severe depending on the number of criteria met.

“It’s encouraging to give people hope there’s something on the other side,” Shuster said.