Tennessee state senator Ken Yager (R), whose video of him bungling a sobriety test after a hit-and-run went viral today, previously pushed the state to make liquor more accessible and change punishments for DUIs.
In the video of the DUI stop, Yager can be seen struggling to put one foot in front of the other and stay upright. He also appeared to have peed his pants.
He was on vacation at the time in Georgia at the time of the incident.
Yager was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and being involved in a hit-and-run crash. According to the Tennessean, which cited the incident report from the Georgia Department of Public Safety, Yager admitted he was in a crash earlier and had drank "a couple glasses of wine previously in the day."
He was booked at the jail but released around 2am Wednesday after posting his $2,117 bond.
Viewers of the video all noticed a tell-tale stain running down one of his legs.
"This is what they mean by 'piss drunk,'" wrote one commenter.
The Tennessean, citing the incident report, said arresting officers noted that Yager had urinated himself.
While Yager may have been out-of-state, as a lawmaker he's pushed an effort to make alcohol more accessible in his home state.
In 2021, Yager, who serves as chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, introduced legislation to permit a third Total Wine & More store to open.
Currently, there are only two Total Wine & More locations in Tennessee—one in Knoxville and one in Brentwood just outside of Nashville—as the retail package store licenses are capped at two.
Yager's bill was deferred and the retailer still has just the two stores.
According to the nonpartisan campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets, Total Wine & More has consistently contributed to Yager's campaigns, including $2,500 in 2023 and $1,600 in 2021, 2020, and 2019 respectively.
He has also received donations from a number of other industry figures, including the Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association; Southern Wine & Spirits; Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America; Horizon Wine & Spirits Nashville Inc; and Jack Daniel Distillery.
And Yager's push for a third Total Wine & More is not the only alcohol-related legislation he has spearheaded.
According to the legislative bill tracking platform FastDemocracy, Yager sponsored a bill that was signed into law in May permitting the sale and consumption of alcohol on certain commercial passenger buses and a bill signed into law in 2023 allowing wineries and other alcoholic beverage manufacturers to distill and fortify wine and blend the distilled or fortified wine with their products.
He has also done away with a specific tax targeting alcohol manufacturers; pushed to reduce the definition of "municipality" to be cities or towns with 900 people or more instead of 925 "for purposes of the alcoholic beverage laws," and worked to designate multiple businesses to allow consumption of alcohol on-site.
In January 2023, Yager also sponsored legislation that reduced the minimum number of days of incarceration from 25 to 17 that a person convicted of a second DUI offense had to serve before being allowed to participate in a substance abuse treatment program.
The bill, signed into law last April, also stated that an individual convicted of a third or subsequent DUI offense would have to wear a transdermal alcohol monitoring device for a 90-day period of continuous sobriety—though this requirement could be waived by the judge if the person already completed a 90-day period of sobriety.
Separately, he has pushed to lower the amount of revenue required for an art gallery to serve free wine to patrons, authorized the sale of "alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption at certain premier type tourists resorts," and granted permission for the manufacturing of intoxicating liquors and drinks in Lenoir City.
The state senator has had little public comment since his arrest, but told a local outlet in a statement that "an unfortunate incident happened last night."
"On the advice of my attorney, I cannot discuss the particulars at this time," he said. "I am and will continue to cooperate fully with authorities to bring this incident to an appropriate conclusion."
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