PIERRE, S.D.(Press Release) – Sixteen sobriety checkpoints in 12 counties are planned statewide during December, according to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.

The checkpoints are designed to discourage people from drinking and then driving.

Counties involved for December are: Beadle, Bennett, Brown, Butte, Clay, Codington, Jackson, Lincoln, Lyman, Minnehaha, Moody and Pennington.

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.

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 agencies of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety.