Drink, drive, go to jail: Hays County conducting no refusal initiative on NYE

Hays County is conducting its first countywide no refusal initiative since 2013 on New Year's Eve. This effort includes the Hays County Sheriff's Office, and San Marcos, Kyle, and Buda police departments, as well as Texas State University and Texas Department of Public Safety.

HAYS COUNTY, Texas - It's New Year's Eve...a time for parties, drinks, and fun to ring in the new year...but make sure you're doing so safely, or else.

“I think at New Year’s we’ve we see the highest number of drunk driving arrests,” said Hays County Criminal District Attorney Wes Mau.

“If a person is arrested for intoxicated driving and they refuse to provide a sample of their breath or blood, a judge is going to be available at the jail for the officers to present warrant requests,” said Mau. "He will be signing those warrants to obtain blood samples from those individuals who refused. Judge Johnson has committed being out at the jail between 10 p.m. and three in the morning."

According to an analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data, Texas, sitting at 188, had the highest number of deadly crashes on New Year's Eve and Day between 2013 and 2018.

It's unwelcome news to law enforcement.

“What I'd really like to see is not a bunch of cases that are easy to prosecute, I'd rather see no cases at all," Mau said.

Mau is encouraging drivers to find alternatives like Uber, Lyft or call a taxi, if they plan on going out to drink.

“I expect it's going to be a busy night for our patrol officers. I'm certainly hoping that we have no crashes and no fatalities,” said Mau.