FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :  Monday, December 10, 2012
CONTACT:   Sara Rabern (605)773-3215   

 
Office of Attorney General and the Department of Public Safety Release Supplemental Findings Report on the 24/7 Sobriety Program

 
PIERRE, S.D.-   Attorney General Marty Jackley and the Department of Public Safety announced today that Mountain Plains Evaluation’s Supplemental Findings Report on the 24/7 Sobriety Program has been completed. This Report is a follow-up to Mountain Plains Evaluation’s analysis of the 24/7 Program issued in March of 2011.

The Supplemental Findings Report includes an additional year of participation level data and demonstrates that the Program effectively continues to reduce the likelihood that an individual convicted of DUI will reoffend. Specifically,  the twice daily preliminary breath test result for DUI offenders examined in this report reveals that individuals are maintaining a very high level of sobriety while on the 24/7 Sobriety Program. With a sample size of just over one million recorded twice a day test results, only 0.6% was recorded as a “failed” test or as a “no show”.  In addition, over 53% of DUI participants did not fail a single breath test, and only 9.4% had four or more test marked as “failed” test or “no show” during a testing period that averaged approximately 120 days per participant.

“The new information in the Mountain Plains report, in addition to the recent release of the RAND study, confirms and supports the effectiveness of the 24/7 Sobriety Program.  Our 24/7 alcohol monitoring program is a proven offender-pay program that addresses addiction head-on and improves public safety,” said Jackley.

“Keeping repeat offenders off the road is a huge component of the 24/7 program,’’ said Lee Axdahl, director of the state Office of Highway Safety. “The latest evaluation shows this program continues to contribute greatly to safety on our highways.’’

The program, which was established in 2005 as a pilot program, began with a twice-a-day preliminary breath test. Since 2005, 5.32 million preliminary breath tests have been administered to 23,678 participants with a pass rate of 99.3 percent. In 2006, alcohol monitoring bracelets were introduced, 4,815 participants have been monitored for 706,468 days of which 77 % were compliant. Other testing methods were introduced in 2007 including: (1) 68,412 urinalysis tests administered to 2,632 participants with a pass rate of 96.8 percent; (2) and 1,447 drug patch tests administered to 125 participants with a pass rate of 89%. In June of 2012, the ignition interlock devices for vehicles were added to the program, but currently no statistical data available.

You can find the Mountain Plains Evaluation Report on our website at: http://apps.sd.gov/atg/dui247/AnalysisSupplementalSD24.pdf

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