District attorney and sheriff urge holiday vigilance after county reports hundreds of DUI cases

Kings County’s district attorney and sheriff urged residents to avoid impaired driving during the holiday season at the Board of Supervisors meeting on Dec. 9.

"In 2025, our office filed 434 DUI cases," District Attorney Sarah Hacker told supervisors as she introduced a joint proclamation aimed at reducing drunk driving. Hacker said nearly half of those cases involved drivers with blood-alcohol concentrations at or above twice the legal limit and noted 18 DUI cases that caused injuries, including five that resulted in homicide charges; she said those homicide suspects had prior DUI arrests.

Sheriff Dave Putnam said the sheriff's office supported the proclamation and described stepped-up enforcement: "To date in 2025, the sheriff's office alone has made over 80 arrests for DUI," Putnam said, and added the office had executed more than 150 warrant arrests related to DUI. Both offices said they had secured grant funding for extra patrols and planned high-visibility saturation patrols during high-risk hours and holiday weekends.

Hacker told the board the district attorney's office will prosecute "every DUI case that can be proved beyond a reasonable doubt" and seek sentences reflecting the severity of offenses. Sheriff Putnam described staffing patterns used for saturation patrols and urged residents to designate sober drivers.

The board accepted the proclamation by motion and members paused for a photograph with law enforcement. No further board action was required; the proclamation is an expression of support for enforcement and public-safety outreach.