PIERRE, S.D.(Press Release) – Sobriety checkpoints are planned for 15 counties statewide during the month of June according to the state Department of Public Safety.

The 20 total checkpoints are designed to encourage people not to drink and drive. The monthly checkpoints are funded by the South Dakota Office of Highway Safety and conducted by the South Dakota Highway Patrol with the help of local law enforcement.

June checkpoints are scheduled for the counties of: Brookings, Clay, Codington, Davidson, Day, Edmunds, Jackson, Jerauld, Lawrence, Lincoln, Meade, Minnehaha, Pennington, Spink, and Walworth.

Officials remind drivers not to drink and drive regardless of whether there is a checkpoint planned in their county. People who have been drinking are urged to designate a sober driver or take an alternate form of commercial or public transportation.

Both the Office of Highway Safety and the Highway Patrol are agencies of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.