BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – A new law aimed at strengthening penalties for drunken driving in North Dakota takes effect on Monday.
 
     The new law will require jail time or community service work for first-time DUI offenders who have a blood alcohol content of 0.16 percent. That’s twice the state’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.
 
     The bill also would require mandatory participation in the so-called 24/7 sobriety program for repeat offenders.
 
     A second DUI arrest also would require a minimum sentence of 10 days in jail. Under the new law, drunken drivers who cause the death of another person can face up to 20 years in prison.
 
     The North Dakota Highway Patrol says 25 people have been killed in alcohol-related crashes so far this year in the state.

Other new laws…

 BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) – This part of summer is a time for patriotism. It’s also the time new state laws go into effect across the nation.
 
     Fiscal years begin July 1 on most financial calendars, and a slew of state government spending regulations kick in each year on that date. Policy laws also hit the books in a wave, though states often mark their independence by enacting such legislation on their own time.
 
     Among the laws set to take effect this year around the U.S. are new abortion limits, gun laws and technology rules. And one state, Wyoming, will start setting up a lottery Monday, leaving only a handful of states without a jackpot drawing.
 
     North Dakota has more than 475 new laws, most of which take effect Aug. 1, although spending bills generally become law at the start of July. So as you get ready for Fourth of July cookouts and family gatherings, consider this roundup of recent legislation from Bismarck:
 
     – ABORTION: North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature and GOP Gov. Jack Dalrymple approved four measures this year that would make North Dakota the most restrictive state in the nation to get an abortion.
 
     One of the measures would ban abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, when a fetal heartbeat can first be detected and before some women know they are pregnant.