BARNES, J.
[O]n May 23, 2009, the State charged Matlock with Class A misdemeanor OWI and Class B misdemeanor public intoxication. Matlock originally remained in the custody of the Marion County Sheriff. [Footnote omitted.] On June 30, 2009, Matlock’s case was transferred to a different trial court because of concerns regarding his mental health. On August 11, 2009, after Matlock had been professionally evaluated, the State stipulated and the trial court found that he was presently incompetent to stand trial, and he was committed to the custody of Richmond State Hospital.
On November 24, 2009, Matlock’s counsel filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him, contending that he had already been held in custody, either by the Sheriff or at Richmond State Hospital, for a period beyond the maximum sentence he could have received if convicted as charged. On December 2, 2009, Richmond State Hospital informed the trial court that Matlock had regained competency, and he was released on his own recognizance. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss on January 5, 2010.
. . . Matlock asserts that the trial court was required to dismiss the charging information where he was detained either by the Sheriff or in Richmond State Hospital for a period in excess of the maximum sentence that could have been imposed following conviction. [Footnote omitted.] The starting point in our analysis is Davis. There, our supreme court faced a situation where it had been determined that an incompetent defendant would never regain competency to stand trial, and she had been confined to a state hospital for a period in excess of the maximum sentence she could have received for the Class D felony offense with which the State had charged her. Ultimately, our supreme court held:
Because Davis’ pretrial confinement has extended beyond the maximum period of any sentence the trial court can impose, and because the State has advanced no argument that its interests outweigh Davis’ substantial liberty interest, we conclude it is a violation of basic notions of fundamental fairness as embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to hold criminal charges over the head of Davis, an incompetent defendant, when it is apparent she will never be able to stand trial.
Davis, 898 N.E.2d at 290.
Before reaching this conclusion, however, the court expressly stated:
We can conceive of a number of instances in which the State would have some legitimate interest in determining the guilt or innocence of an accused even though the accused, in effect, had already been punished. For example, a conviction would be required to enhance a sentence for a felony committed as a member of a criminal gang, to prohibit possession of a firearm, to require registration as a sex offender, or to prove status as a habitual offender, a habitual substance offender, or a habitual traffic offender. If any one or more of these interests were present, then it would be necessary to determine whether such interest or interests were sufficiently important to overcome an accused’s substantial liberty interest.
Id. at 289-90 (citations omitted).
. . . .
. . . [W]e reiterate Davis’s observation that there are occasions when the State’s own substantial interests in determining the guilt or innocence of an accused outweigh the liberty interests of the accused, even though the accused, in effect, has already been fully punished. Most criminal convictions may have collateral consequences of some kind aside from incarceration. The State mentions some of these collateral consequences in its brief, such as an impact on voting rights or on ability to obtain a professional license of some kind. If, however, we were to recognize that any potential collateral consequence of a criminal conviction were sufficient to allow the State to proceed with prosecution of a long-term incompetent individual who already has been detained in excess of the maximum sentence for a particular crime, then it would appear very few accuseds could avail themselves of Davis’s holding. In other words, we would be recognizing an exception to Davis that would swallow its rule. We are reluctant to recognize such a rule, and believe that the “substantial interests” alleged by the State to allow an exception to Davis must be interests directly related to the particular nature of the offense with which the accused is charged.
Here, Matlock was charged with Class A misdemeanor OWI. There are numerous collateral consequences associated with a conviction for that offense, aside from incarceration, that are substantial and directly related to the particular nature of that offense. For example, an OWI conviction requires the suspension of the defendant’s driver’s license for a period of time specified by the trial court, with the length depending on various circumstances. See Ind. Code § 9-30-5-10. An A misdemeanor OWI conviction likewise is something that in the future could form the basis of an habitual substance offender sentence enhancement, see I.C. § 35-50-2-10, or impact a defendant’s status as an habitual traffic offender, see I.C. § 9-30-10-4, or cause a future OWI conviction to be enhanced to a Class D felony, see I.C. § 9-30-5-3. Based on these factors put together, we conclude the State has a substantial interest in pursuing conviction of a defendant accused of OWI, even if that defendant has spent a significant amount of time in detention as a result of mental incompetency, particularly where it has not been established that it is unlikely the defendant will ever regain competency.
In other words, where the possibility exists that a defendant accused of OWI may at some point in the future regain competency and be released back into society, which release also may include the defendant driving, the State may pursue an OWI conviction even if the defendant’s incompetency caused he or she to be detained for a period in excess of the maximum possible sentence for OWI. Here, Matlock’s incompetency never was alleged to be, and in fact was not, permanent. As such, the State was not precluded from pursuing an OWI conviction against Matlock. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Matlock’s motion to dismiss.
BAKER, J., and VAIDIK, J., concur.