Our State Committees

Lee McCoy, the founder and principal of the Santa Barbara DUI Center, has been active in the passage of state legislation for more than eight years.

Many of California’s laws are enacted in Sacramento from a slate of proposals drafted by lawyers across the state. Each year, lawyer-delegates from county bar associations and many specialty law associations in California meet during the State Bar Convention and hold a Conference to debate the laws that they think should be passed by the State Legislature. At the end of the Conference, these volunteer delegates send a proposed slate of legislation to Sacramento, where many of these proposals are introduced into law.

The group is called the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations (“CDCBA”), and was formerly part of the State Bar. It was then known as the California State Bar Conference of Delegates.

McCoy is currently the Chair of the Calendar Coordinating Committee for the CDCBA. His committee is responsible for scheduling the debates on the 100-plus resolutions that are debated at the Conference.

We are proud to report that this year’s Conference has two proposed laws to improve the state of DUI law. First, Resolution 03-02-04 seeks to make DUI/drug offenders eligible for the Prop 36 diversion program. Second, Resolution 03-03-04 would make DUI offenders eligible for the Penal Code 1000 deferred entry of judgment. Both these proposals would allow DUI offenders to avail themselves of the diversion/treatment programs provided for other drug possession crimes.

You see, we’re fighting for you in Sacramento, too.