The Central Oregon woman charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants in a crash last March that injured several Baker High School students won’t enter a plea until at least a year has passed since the incident.

Katrina Nicole Dacus, 35, of Culver, has had her plea hearing delayed five times, most recently on Thursday, Feb. 20.

Dacus, who is charged with 29 counts, including two felony counts of third-degree assault, was scheduled to enter a plea on Monday, Feb. 24.

Her new attorney, Ethan Meaney — the third lawyer to represent Dacus since the crash on March 22, 2024, on the west side of Redmond — filed a motion for a continuance on Feb. 20.

Judge Alycia M. Herriott approved the motion that day.

Dacus is scheduled to enter a plea on March 24, two days past the one-year anniversary of the crash involving members of the Baker FFA team who were attending the state FFA convention. Four students were treated at a hospital.

According to court records, Meaney, of the Donahue Law Firm in Bend, became Dacus’ attorney on Feb. 18. Meaney replaced Bryan Donahue, who is with the same firm. Donahue replaced Dacus’ first attorney, Daniel Olsen, on Nov. 5.

Meaney, in his motion for continuance, wrote that he is “in the midst of ongoing investigation and discovery review.”

Joseph A. Langerman, a deputy district attorney in Deschutes County, did not oppose Meaney’s motion to delay Dacus’ plea hearing for a month.

Dacus was driving a Subaru that crashed into a Baker School District bus carrying 14 students attending the state FFA convention in Redmond on March 22, 2024.

Dacus drove past a stop sign where a road meets Highway 126 on the west side of Redmond and crashed into the bus.

Dacus was initially scheduled to enter a plea on July 24, 2024.

A judge granted a motion from Dacus’ attorney to reschedule the plea hearing to Sept. 4.

On Aug. 30, Langerman, the deputy district attorney, filed a motion seeking another postponement.

“The State needs more time to consult with the named victims and their families in this matter before extending a plea offer,” Langerman wrote in his motion, which was granted.

Dacus’ plea hearing was rescheduled for Oct. 16.

But two days before that hearing, Langerman filed a motion seeking another delay.

In the Oct. 14 motion, Langerman wrote that over the previous week, prosecutors had received new information about injuries to some of the BHS students that could result in new criminal charges against Dacus, including changing one fourth-degree assault count to third-degree assault, and adding five more counts of fourth-degree assault.

Prosecutors also planned to take the case to a grand jury, Langerman wrote.

He wrote that the district attorney’s office has discussed a possible settlement with Dacus, and that Dacus’ attorney had suggested a settlement conference.

“The State is requesting a Motion to Postpone Entry of Plea in the normal course in order to continue consulting with the remaining victims in this case, to continue plea negotiations with defense, and to set this matter for Grand Jury now that there is information that would support Felony charges,” Langerman wrote in his Oct. 14 motion.

A judge granted that motion. Dacus was scheduled to enter a plea on Dec. 2 in Deschutes County Circuit Court, but that hearing was also postponed.

On Dec. 19 a grand jury issued a new indictment that includes 29 counts, including, for the first time, two felony counts of third-degree assault. Langerman alluded in his Oct. 14 motion to the possibility of upgrading at least one charge from fourth-degree assault, a Class A misdemeanor, to third-degree, a Class B felony.

The 27 other charges are all Class A misdemeanors — 15 counts of recklessly endangering another person, nine counts of fourth-degree assault, and one count each of reckless driving, driving under the influence of intoxicants, and second-degree criminal mischief (related to damage to the bus).

Dacus was briefly jailed after her arrest in March 2024. She was granted a conditional release on March 25, 2024.