State v. Hansen

BACKGROUND

Prior to passage of 1998 Neb. Laws, L.B. 309, trial courts in Nebraska could look back only 8 years, for purposes of sentence enhancement, to determine if a person convicted of driving under the influence (DUI) in violation of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 60-6,196 (Reissue 1993) had previous DUI convictions. However, L.B. 309 amended § 60-6,196(2) such that courts may now look back 12 years to prior DUI convictions for enhancement purposes. That amendment went into effect on April 19, 1998.

Nearly 4 months later, on August 12, 1998, Robert S. Hansen was arrested for DUI. An information was…