Gov. Jay Nixon is taking the first step this week in his pledge to fix systemic failures to punish drunken drivers that the Post-Dispatch uncovered this fall.

Nixon spokesman Scott Holste said the governor has summoned more than two dozen police officers, prosecutors, judges and activists to Jefferson City on Wednesday to talk about how laws can be strengthened in the next legislative session.

"We're going to bring together people who have a wide variety of opinions on what needs to be done here," Holste said.

The Post-Dispatch found that St. Louis-area authorities regularly fail to charge persistent offenders with felonies, as the law allows. Area courts routinely grant plea bargains that keep DWI convictions off records, with even repeat offenders getting the deals half the time. And prosecutors bargain away the one-year license suspensions of people who refuse to take a breath test when stopped on suspicion of drunken driving.

"There is a lot you can hope that comes out of this meeting," said Mike Boland, of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. "It obviously shows the problem is a lot larger than anyone ever thought it was. I sure hope they're hoping for a fix, not a Band-Aid."

Holste said the governor won't recommend any fixes before hearing from those at the summit. Among ideas proposed by various officials in the past few years:

— Fixing incomplete state databases that make it difficult for police to determine whether a suspected drunken driver has a record.

— Removing DWI cases from municipal courts, which convict just a fraction of those charged with DWI.

— Forbidding reduced charges or court diversion programs that keep driving records clean.

— Hiring more Department of Revenue lawyers to fight appeals of license suspensions.