The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - Prosecutors are not limited to "zero tolerance" law when charging motorists under 21 with drunken driving, the Kentucky Supreme Court said Thursday.

Prosecutors also can use a section of the drunken driving statute that requires more proof but also permits harsher penalties, the court said.

Zero tolerance was the name given to a section of the law that declared it "illegal per se" for a driver under 21 to have a blood-alcohol concentration as low as 0.02 percent - a fourth of the limit for other drivers.

The ruling was in a case from Campbell County, where Joshua Reynolds was charged with drunken driving in January 2002. His blood-alcohol level exceeded 0.08 percent.

Because he was under 21 at the time, Reynolds claimed he could be prosecuted only under the zero tolerance rule. The maximum penalty was a six-month license suspension and a $500 fine or 20 hours of community service in lieu of a fine.

The Supreme Court said there was no indication the General Assembly intended for younger drivers to escape the penalties that go with high blood-alcohol levels.