PIERRE, S.D.(Press Release) – Sobriety checkpoints will be held in 17 counties throughout South Dakota during June.

The 18 total 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. The goal of the checkpoints is discourage people from drinking and then driving.

June checkpoints are scheduled for the counties of Beadle, Brookings, Butte, Codington, Day, Douglas, Edmunds, Hamlin, Jerauld, Jones, Lincoln, Lyman, Meade, Minnehaha, Stanley, Walworth and Yankton.

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 part of the Department of Public Safety.