The South Dakota Office of Highway Safety, the Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies held over 150 sobriety checkpoints over the course of last year.
The preliminary tally for 2019, shows there were 158 checkpoints conducted statewide. During those operations, 12,710 vehicles were checked ending up in 169 DUI arrests and 84 alcohol citations issued.
Law enforcement agencies will hold sobriety checkpoints this month (Jan.) in: Hughes, Lyman, Stanley and Walworth counties in central South Dakota. Checkpoints will also be held in Beadle, Brown, Butte, Charles Mix, Codington, Day, Fall River, Kingsbury, Lincoln, McCook, Meade, Minnehaha, Pennington and Yankton counties.
The checkpoints are done each month in different counties as a way to discourage drivers from drinking and then driving. They’re funded by the South Dakota Office of Highway Safety and conducted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol with the help of local law enforcement.
Both the Office of Highway Safety and the Highway Patrol are part of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.
