BUTLER TWP — A Center Township man may be the first person in Butler County to have been charged under the state’s new law that increases penlites for repeat drunken drivers.

Charles L. Henry, 54, is accused of felony driving under the influence. That charge — felony DUI — has only been on the books for six weeks in Pennsylvania.

The law was in effect for less than a month when Henry was arrested in January for allegedly being more than three times the commonwealth’s legal limit for alcohol following a crash in a store parking lot.

It was also his third DUI offense in less than 10 years.

Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger on Tuesday could not say for certain, but he believes the case could be the first one locally.

In October, the state legislature passed a bill that called for harsher legal consequences for some repeat offenders. Gov. Tom Wolf signed the measure.

Under the new law, someone with a third offense in a decade — with at least twice the legal limit — or any four-time offender faces a felony.

Previously, all DUIs in the state were treated as misdemeanors.

This is an excerpt — read more about the case in Tuesday’s Butler Eagle or subscribe to butlereagle.com.