South Dakota has seen unprecedented success with their introduction of the 24/7 Sobriety Program throughout the state. Yankton County began monitoring drug and alcohol offenders through the program in 2007 and has been privy to the same success. The 24/7 Program allows courts to monitor drug and alcohol offenders instead of automatically putting them in jail for offenses. Drug monitoring is done through a drug patch or urine analysis while alcohol monitoring can be done twice a day through a breath test or continuously with the SCRAM bracelet.
Yankton County Sheriff Jim Vlahakis recently released findings of the program highlighting that fact that the program is completely supported and paid for by the offender, not by the taxpayer. In Yankton County offenders have been monitored on the SCRAM device for a total of 3,281 days with no failures. It is truly remarkable but punctuates a fact already known by many. Jail alternatives such as alcohol monitoring for non-violent offenses allow people to keep their jobs and thus give them motivation to stay sober. The constant alcohol monitoring keeps them accountable. Statewide the program has had success as well with a SCRAM compliance rate of 99.6%.