PIERRE, S.D.(Press Release) – Sobriety checkpoints scheduled for 15 different South Dakota counties during October.

The South Dakota Department of Public Safety has released the list of monthly checkpoints which are held at various times and locations. The checkpoints are designed to discourage people from drinking and then driving.

Sobriety checkpoints are scheduled for the counties of: Beadle, Bennett, Brookings, Brown, Butte, Charles Mix, Clay, Codington, Custer, Jerauld, Lawrence, Minnehaha, Pennington, Stanley 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.

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 Department of Public Safety.