South Dakota Extends Pilot DUI Breath Test Program
In exchange for being allowed to drive, drivers arrested for DUI in South Dakota will have to take a breath test every morning and evening. South Dakota joins the growing list of states offering harsh choices to drivers repeatedly caught DUI. Under the two-year old pilot “24/7 Sobriety” program, if a driver fails to show up at the police station for any of his breath tests, a warrant for his arrest is issued. He then gets to spend a night in jail.
Lacey Graff was arrested a third time for DUI. She didn’t like the program, but credits it with keeping her sober. Toward the beginning of her participation in the program, Graff failed her breath test twice; she spent two nights in jail.
Hughes County South Dakota sheriff Mike Leidholt says that about 40 people are in the program in his county. Statewide, more than 1,000 people are in the 24/7 Sobriety program.
Attorney General Larry Long believes that the program has been so successful that he has convinced the state legislature to take it statewide. A bill has passed and awaits the governor’s signature. The AG said that “Alcohol drives the criminal justice system. These people come back to us time and time after time.”