California data ranks Sutter among top 10 counties for DUI crashes
YUBA CITY — In the month of October, Sutter County saw 27 DUI arrests, which places it in the top 10 among California counties for drunk-driving crashes.
According to California's Office of Traffic Safety (OTS), Sutter ranks 7th among the state's 58 counties for most alcohol-involved crashes. It should be noted that the most recent data is from 2021.
The Sutter County District Attorney's Office said it has been overwhelmed with DUI cases, but now they're taking action thanks to a new grant. District Attorney Jennifer Dupré said her office had more than 600 DUI cases of just last year.
"It is an epidemic here in Sutter County and people are dying," District Attorney Jennifer Dupré said.
OTS awarded the county $223,000 to hire a prosecutor who specifically focuses on Dui cases.
"Not only do we notice drunk drivers on the road, but I know plenty of people that drink and drive on a daily basis," Sutter County resident Josh McLane said. "It's kind of their norm. You definitely notice it in this area."
McLane said the grant will help, but he thinks there needs to be an even bigger change.
"It's a leading cause of death for so many good people," he said. "I think the grant is huge because I know there's plenty of people who want help in our area."
Dupré said that in addition to hiring a DUI prosecutor, the grant will also go toward training sessions for Sutter and surrounding counties and education with a focus on youth.
"The prosecutor will go on ride-alongs, will go to DUI checkpoints, will ride along on high saturation patrols so that they're really seeing the law enforcement side and can use that to improve our prosecution, get a different outlook and again educate the public," Dupré said.
The grant is annual, and Dupré said she'll be applying for it every year that she can.
"Anything we can do to reduce the number of DUIs and the number of DUI deaths up here, which is huge, anything we can do to reduce those, it counts," she said.
Dupré noted that they're expecting to have someone in the role of DUI prosecutor sometime in early 2025.