To help keep Lake Conroe off the state’s list of most dangerous lakes, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has joined with local businesses to start a “designated skipper” program.

An outgrowth of the Texas Department of Transportation’s Person Appointed to Stay Sober, the Designated Skipper program encourages boating groups to select someone who won’t drink while on the water.

Businesses promoting the program include The County Line restaurant, Inland Discount Marine, dd4hire.com and Smart Start, according to a news release from the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

The County Line will provide a 10 percent discount to program participants and dd4hire.com will provide a designated skipper or driver for a nominal fee, the release said.

Since Montgomery County instituted a No Refusal program in March 2009, no Boating While Intoxicated fatalities have occurred on Lake Conroe, said Warren Diepraam, vehicular crimes section chief for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Capt. Ronald Van Der Roest of Texas Parks and Wildlife said the drop in fatal accidents since 2009 on Lake Conroe has taken the popular boating spot off the department’s informal list of most dangerous or deadliest lakes.

“It doesn’t even come in the top 20 any more,” Van Der Roest said. “I think without a doubt you can attribute the reduction in accidents and deaths on Lake Conroe to the implementation of No Refusal weekends.”

Van Der Roest, who was not in his office, said he couldn’t immediately supply names of the lakes that top the list because they are not in his enforcement area.

No Refusal means that if a motorist is suspected of driving or boating while impaired but refuses to provide a breath or blood sample after being arrested, a prosecutor and judge will be available to quickly execute a search warrant for a blood sample.

Law enforcement authorities in Harris, Montgomery and Galveston counties, as well as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, are implementing the no-refusal concept for Memorial Day weekend, Diepraam said.

Driving While Intoxicated fatality charges have dropped 70 percent since No Refusal started in Montgomery County in 2009, Diepraam said.

In the same three-year period, DWI cases have dropped about 30 percent, and the breath-test refusal rate has dropped from the statewide average of 45 percent to about 25 percent, said Diepraam, who pioneered the no-refusal concept in 2006 while an assistant district attorney for Harris County.

This weekend, thanks to Texas Department of Transportation funding, prosecutors will be stationed in Conroe and on Lake Conroe to review all DWI and Boating While Intoxicated arrests, Diepraam said.

Judges will be on call in all three counties throughout the weekend, he said.

Asked about opposition to the No Refusal program, Diepraam said the argument he hears most often is that a mandatory blood draw constitutes an intrusion on a person’s civil liberties and is unconstitutional.

“Search warrants have been mandated by the Constitution for more than 200 years, so I don’t necessarily agree with that argument,” he said. “As for an intrusion on civil liberties, that’s why we seek search warrants. They are legal and constitutional law enforcement methods to obtain evidence.”

Fort Bend County is not participating in the No Refusal program this weekend, an employee said.

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