Six arrested during county’s ‘No Refusal’ New Year’s

Six drivers were arrested for Driving While Intoxicated during Hays County’s “No Refusal” New Year’s. 

This was the county’s first countywide “No-Refusal” holiday since 2013. The New Year’s  “No Refusal” resulted in four blood warrants out of the six DWI arrests. 

“Although I understand that our law enforcement officers were very busy over New Year’s, I am pleased that only six of those incidents involved arrests for DWI with no reported fatal or serious accidents,” Hays County District Attorney Wes 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.”

Three of the six arrests were by the San Marcos Police Department and one apiece for the Kyle Police Department, Hays County Sheriff’s Office and Department of Public Safety. 

Two arrestees provided voluntary samples for testing, while four blood search warrants were signed by County Court-at-law Judge Chris Johnson, who was available at the Hays County Jail between 10 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. during New Year’s Eve to review requests for warrants and to order blood draws by a phlebotomist who was present at the jail.