(The Center Square) – Less than half of the drivers required to install ignition interlock devices in their vehicles did so between 2018 and 2025, despite $14.5 million in state spending to bolster compliance.
Washington state lawmakers allocated $400,000 in 2024 to the bipartisan Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee to examine installation rates and issue recommendations to improve them. Staff returned on Wednesday with three after realizing that no one was responsible for tracking compliance.
The JLARC performance audit released this month reviewed 66,000 drivers with IID requirements from January 2018 to June 2025. Only 41% of those drivers completed the requirement or currently have a device installed; the remaining 59% of drivers facing IID restrictions had not installed one as of June.
“There’s no data to explicitly know whether a driver is continuing to drive, unless they are pulled over,” JLARC Research Analyst Zack Freeman said Wednesday while presenting the final report to lawmakers.
IIDs prevent impaired driving by requiring drivers to use a breathalyzer before starting their vehicles.
The courts can require a driver to use an IID for up to 10 years, depending on how many convictions they have for drunk driving. The drivers are responsible for the installation, maintenance and removal costs.
They also must lease the IID from one of five manufacturers and pay a $21 monthly fee to the state.
According to the report, the device costs about $2,700 annually, rising to $5,000 after court fines and high-risk insurance. The $21 monthly fee funds a financial assistance program for low-income drivers who can’t afford the price of their crime. That account has raised $27.2 million since fiscal year 2019.
The fund started with $4.2 million; of the total $31.4 million, the state only allocated $14.5 million to financial assistance and $15.7 million to highway safety, administrative costs and studies like this one.
“How [come] no one has taken responsibility for making sure that these devices are installed?” Rep. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, pressed JLARC staff. “Seems to me, with the amount of problems that we have, that this ought to be a higher priority [for the Department of Licensing and Washington State Patrol].”
Sgt. Brandon Vellante told the committee that Washington is considered “one of the leading states” for ignition interlock programs.
“It just could be a data issue, but we are one of the leading states when it comes to compliance,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s still not great, in the 40% range.”
The first JLARC recommendation was for the DOL to enforce contracts with IID manufacturers around auditing compliance and to determine whether the financial assistance program needs more funding.
According to the audit, the financial assistance program “struggles with customer service, inefficiency, and lack of strategy.” The report said the more someone makes, the more likely they are to install an IID. The median wage for someone with an IID requirement was $28,000. Of drivers earning $20,000 to $30,000 annually, 45% installed a device, rising to 69% among drivers earning $90,000 to $100,000.
“Drivers who receive financial assistance account for about 11% of installations. JLARC staff estimate that more may be eligible,” according to the report, which notes that “contradictory information” has been given to drivers about the process that allows low-income earners to be reimbursed for $1,400.
Brad Benfield, assistant director of DOL programs and services, said he is “taking this very seriously.”
The second JLARC recommendation directs the DOL and WSP to enter into an interagency agreement to jointly administer program duties and to set clear roles, responsibilities and goals for each agency.
The last recommendation directs both agencies to coordinate a strategy to increase installation rates through outreach to drivers, a compliance-tracking system, lessons learned from county compliance projects, plans to improve access to financial assistance and potential statutory or funding changes.
According to letters the DOL and WSP sent to the committee regarding the recommendations, both agencies will meet quarterly to develop these plans and define clear roles for each party as suggested.
“We are committed to working collaboratively with the Department of Licensing and other stakeholders to implement these recommendations,” WSP Chief John Batiste wrote in a Jan. 22 letter to the JLARC.
