A program aimed at Madison County's drunken drivers has resulted in a 26 percent increase in DUI arrests in the past year, Kentucky State Police said yesterday.

It also has meant a 10 percent reduction in alcohol-related crashes, Lt. Eric Walker, commander of the Governor's Highway Safety Program, said at a news conference.

The program brings together all of the people and agencies a drunken driver is likely to encounter: police, prosecutors, judges, probation officers and treatment providers.

It starts with local law enforcement agencies that team up to conduct traffic checkpoints once or twice a month.

A new compliance monitor in the county attorney's office tracks drunken-driving cases, making sure judges know defendants' DUI history and offenders get treatment, said County Attorney Marc Robbins.

A DUI Judicial College was held this past spring to ensure judges have current information on DUI issues.

Alcohol is responsible for about 25 percent of fatal crashes in the state, Walker said. And in the first year of the program, there were 912 DUI arrests in Madison.

"It's a serious problem, and not just here in Madison County," he said.

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