More sobriety checkpoints scheduled for January

The South Dakota Office of Highway Safety, the Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies held over 150 sobriety checkpoints over the course of the past year.  

The preliminary tally for 2019, shows there were 158 checkpoints conducted statewide. During those operations, more than 12-thousand-700 vehicles were checked ending up in 169 DUI arrests and 84 alcohol citations issued. 

Law enforcement agencies will hold sobriety checkpoints again this month in 18 counties across the state.  Locally, some of those counties include Beadle, Codington, Kingsbury, McCook, and Minnehaha 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.