RENO (AP) - A ruling by Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is sending eight people convicted of drunken driving causing death or injury back to prison.
Masto said her office gave incorrect legal advice to the corrections department that such offenders could be placed on house arrest. She said state law is clear that they must spend at least two years in prison.
Her review was prompted by a Reno newspaper story on the early release of 40 of the 113 people convicted since 2000 of causing death or severe injuries while driving drunk in Nevada.
The review came after the newspaper reported that 22 of the 40 people spent fewer than 10 months behind bars and another six spent only three or four months in prison.
Department of Corrections Director Howard Skolnik said most of the 40 offenders already had completed their sentences and could not be called back to prison, but that eight offenders still on house arrest will be affected by Masto's ruling.
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