States Monitor Alcohol Offenders with Twice-Daily Tests

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A decade ago, South Dakota tried a new approach for reducing drunken driving: requiring offenders to be tested for alcohol twice a day, every day.

The approach is now gaining momentum nationwide. Neighboring North Dakota and Montana have started similar monitoring systems, and at least five more states are running or planning pilot programs. Other states are passing legislation to do the same.

Every day before sunrise, people constantly stream through a wing of the county jail in Sioux Falls. Some are dressed in neatly pressed business suits. Others wear neon-green construction uniforms or even wrinkled pajamas.

If they pass the test, they stay out of jail.

Those who fail are immediately jailed: 12 hours for the first offense, 24 hours for the second. A third failure brings incarceration.

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