PHOENIX (AP) -- A grand jury on Tuesday indicted state Rep. Trish Groe on a DUI charge stemming from the Lake Havasu City Republican's March arrest while driving in the Parker area, a special prosecutor said.

The indictment issued by the La Paz County grand jury in Parker charges Groe with one felony count of aggravated DUI and one misdemeanor count of false reporting to a police officer, special prosecutor Dennis Wilenchik said.

Lab results confirmed her blood-alcohol content was 0.148 percent, nearly twice the legal limit of .08, when she was arrested.

The aggravated DUI charge carries a first-offense sentencing range from one year to three years and nine months in prison.

Also, a felony conviction would force Groe to step down from her District 3 seat. Groe is one of two representatives who represent the district centered on Mohave County in northwestern Arizona.

Wilenchik said the aggravated DUI charge accuses Groe of drunken driving at a time when her Arizona driver's license was canceled.

Groe did not immediately return a call for comment and her attorney, Bruce Feder, said he hadn't had a chance to review the indictment and could not comment in detail on the charges.

However, Feder also said he expects Groe will follow his advice to plead not-guilty.

Wilenchik said Groe has argued that she thought she had cleared up a California license cancellation, triggered by an unpaid ticket, that led to cancellation of her Arizona license.

However, the Arizona cancellation remained in force, Wilenchik said.

"The bottom line is she was obviously aware in Arizona that her license was canceled, that it wasn't cleared up," the special prosecutor said.

As a legislator, "she helped write these laws. She should know what they say," Wilenchik said.

The false reporting charge accuses Groe of initially lying to the arresting officer about whether she'd been driving, Wilenchik said.

Groe is to appear in La Paz County court in Parker on Oct. 1 for arraignment, Wilenchik said.

State House rules allow expulsion of members for "disorderly behavior" but do not directly address situations in which members face pending criminal charges, and the chairman of the House Ethics Committee declined immediate comment on Groe's situation.

However, the ethics chairman, Republican Rep. Bob Robson of Chandler, noted that the Legislature is not now in session and that there are no firm plans for a special session this fall. "An indictment is not a conviction," he added.

In January 2000, then-Rep. John Verkamp, R-Flagstaff, pleaded guilty to extreme DUI and stepped down as House Judiciary Committee chairman. Verkamp, who was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $685 on his conviction, later in 2000 was elected to an open Senate seat.

Wilenchik was hired by La Paz County to handle the case after County Attorney Martin Brannan recused himself, saying he had a conflict of interest because Groe represents La Paz County in the Legislature.

Brannan had initially transferred the case to Yuma County prosecutors but they sent it back after Brannan criticized a proposed plea deal in which Groe would have served one day in jail on a misdemeanor charge.

Groe previously told the Today's News Herald newspaper in Lake Havasu City that she had been drinking at her Phoenix apartment and was driving through Parker on her way to her home in Lake Havasu City.

Groe was elected to the House in 2004 and re-elected in November. She took a temporary leave from the Legislature during the 2007 regular session to seek treatment for an alcohol addiction after her arrest. She returned a month later.

The state Democratic Party called on Groe to resign.

"We wish her the best in putting her life back together and getting the kind of counseling she needs," party spokeswoman Emily Bittner said. "But her need for rehabilitation shouldn't come at the expense of representing her constituents."

---

On the Net:

Arizona Legislature: http://www.azleg.gov/

© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.