After a driver with a lengthy drunken driving record crashed last weekend into the popular Park Tavern patio in St. Louis Park, killing two people and injuring nine others, many people have expressed frustration that he had a valid driver’s license.

Steven Frane Bailey, 56, of St. Louis Park, has five drunken driving convictions, stretching from 1985 to 2015. Nevertheless, according to Minneapolis criminal defense attorney Peter Wold, Bailey “certainly would’ve been in position to get [his license] back” before Sunday’s crash.

After his arrest Sunday, Bailey’s blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.325%, more than four times the legal limit. He has been charged with two counts of criminal vehicular homicide and nine counts of criminal vehicular operation.

Bailey has had his license cancelled before, according to court records. But in Minnesota, as long as offenders fulfill a range of requirements, the longest they can lose their license is six years if they haven’t injured anyone; if they have, the period can run up to 10 years. One Minnesotan, 64-year-old Danny Lee Bettcher, of New York Mills, had a state record 27 drunken driving convictions on his record but was legally licensed when he got his 28th DWI in 2017.

DFL Sen. Ron Latz, who represents St. Louis Park and chairs the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, said Sunday’s crash has pushed him to look into possible legislation to extend the time period that drunken driving offenders must use an ignition interlock device to drive.

Here’s more about Minnesota’s drunken driving laws and what they say about driver’s licenses.

As long as no injuries are involved, a driver in Minnesota can rack up drunken driving offenses but can’t have their license taken away for more than six years, according to the Minnesota House Research Department.

Penalties increase depending on the number of incidents, how often they occur within a 10-year period and, for first-time offenders, how impaired the driver is. First-time offenders can have their license revoked for a time range from less than three months to two years.

Once someone hits three or more offenses in a 10-year period, their license is cancelled for anywhere from three to six years. To get their license back, offenders must complete a chemical dependency treatment program, prove their sobriety for at least two years, and abstain from alcohol and drugs for the rest of their life, according to Wold.

An offender whose license is revoked may still obtain a permit to drive for work, Wold said, and only has to wait out the revocation period to reapply for a license. No treatment is required.

Ignition interlock devices, a breath-test device that prevents impaired drivers from starting their cars, reduce repeat drunken driving offenses by about 70%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They are a common tool for holding offenders accountable.

While Minnesota employs interlock devices, it’s one of 16 states that does not require them for all drunken driving offenders after the first offense, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which advocates for stricter impaired driving policies.

First-time offenders arrested at twice the legal limit — 0.16% blood alcohol content — and above and second-time offenders are required to use interlock devices or lose their driving privileges from one to two years, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Those with three or more offenses in a 10-year period are required to use the interlock device for three to six years.

Strengthening interlock laws has been identified by MADD as a legislative priority, saying the device can reduce drunken driving deaths by 20%.

Latz said he likely would favor expanded use of the device rather than taking away licenses for longer periods of time. He said many people continue to drive even without a license and often without insurance.

“I just don’t think you end up accomplishing what you’re trying to do, which is have safe drivers out there,” he said.

In 2020, MADD graded all 50 states on the strength of their drunken driving laws. Minnesota received a score of 2.5 on a 5-point scale, below the national average of 3.16.

MADD said Minnesota needs to require interlock devices for all convicted offenders, conduct sobriety checkpoints at least monthly, make it a felony when children are in a car driven by a drunken driver, and expedite warrants for suspects who refuse an alcohol test.

Latz spoke positively of other aspects of the state’s laws, arguing that they strike a balance between individual rights and public safety, and provide a robust chemical dependency treatment system for offenders.

According to the most recent data from the Minnesota Department of Health, there were more than 24,300 drunken driving arrests in 2021, a 13% decrease from 2017. That drop continued a long-term downward trend; about 35,000 arrests were made in 2008, according to the department.

About one in seven Minnesotans have at least one drunken driving conviction. More than 100,000 Minnesotans self-reported drinking and driving at least once in a 30-day period in 2020.