Bill would end right to refuse blood test

South Dakota would be the first state in the nation to repeal its implied-consent law for all drunken-driving arrests if a proposal before the Legislature is approved, lawmakers were told Wednesday.

Not a bad way to be a pioneer. The Chief doesn’t have much sympathy for DUI’s. Anything that is so overtly a danger to other people needs to be a crime that is taken seriously indeed.

Under current state law, a person who is arrested for drunken driving can refuse to give a blood sample if it is the first or second offense and if a felony is not involved. If it is the third or more offense or if a homicide is involved, a blood sample is required. But if this proposal passes, “you don’t have a choice,” Hendrickson said. “For every DUI arrest, you will have to give blood.”

“This is the only offense where the offender has the choice to give evidence or to withhold it,” Sgt. Brad Booth of the Rapid City Police Department said.

Go for it Pierre!