PIERRE, S.D. (Press Release) – South Dakota’s Department of Public Safety will resume its monthly statewide sobriety checkpoints starting in July.

The checkpoints were halted in early March due to COVID-19. The checkpoints are done each month in different counties as a way to discourage drivers from drinking and then driving.

There are 19 checkpoints planned in 16 counties during July.

Checkpoints are scheduled in the counties of: Beadle, Brown, Brule, Butte, Codington, Custer, Fall River, Hughes, Lake, Lawrence, Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha, Pennington, Roberts and Yankton.

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