Hays County’s first “no refusal” New Year’s Eve in six years appears to have achieved its proactive goal of cutting down on the number of people arrested for driving while intoxicated during celebrations to ring in 2020.
According to District Attorney Wes Mau, five DWI arrests occurred during the targeted period of 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 to 4 a.m. on Jan. 1, and one additional suspected drunk driver was arrested later in the morning.
Out of those, four refused to submit voluntary blood samples so “blood warrants” were issued by County Court at Law Judge Chris Johnson, who along with a certified phlebotomist spent the targeted time period at the Uhland Road law enforcement center. Three of the arrests were made by the San Marcos Police Department and one each by the Kyle Police Department, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Highway Patrol.
In comparison, there were a dozen DWI arrests over the weekend between Christmas and New Years.
“Although I understand that our law enforcement officers were very busy over New Year’s, I am pleased that only five of those incidents involved arrests for DWI with no reported fatal or serious accidents,” Mau said in a statement. “While the no-refusal holiday will certainly help ensure the intoxicated drivers are held accountable for their decisions that night, the goal of such events is to encourage the public to think twice before drinking and driving. For that reason I hope to see no refusal programs become the norm and that DWI arrests dwindle as more drivers avoid drinking and driving.”
In announcing the initiative, Mau had cited figures from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) showing that there were 258 DWI crashes in 2018 that resulted in 11 deaths and more than a hundred injuries. Mau also credited the participation of the county’s law enforcement community and magistrates.
“For a smaller county like Hays, ‘no refusal’ events can be challenging to implement,” said Kyle Police Sgt. James Jones, who was instrumental in initiating the event. “In larger counties surrounding us (e.g. Travis and Bexar), a judge is on-site at their jails 24 hours a day and search warrants can be reviewed on site. This is not currently an option for law enforcement in Hays County.”
Jones said he helped coordinate the availability of the judge and phlebotomist at the jail that night. He added that he had personally heard Johnson say he would “be happy to volunteer for a ‘no refusal’ event.”
He also noted, as did Mau, that there seemed to be a higher than normal number of Uber and Lyft vehicles seen on local streets on New Year’s Eve, something he said reflected the public’s awareness of the “no refusal.”
“We see the tragic results of crashes from people driving under the influence,” KPD Chief Jeff Barnett said. “Our belief is this program will help deter drivers from getting behind the wheel after drinking or using illegal drugs …. By collaborating with local law enforcement agencies … we can reduce the number of deaths and injuries on our roadways.”
