| Item | Sturgis | Rapid City District | District Total | Last Year to Date |
| DUI Arrests | 31 | 9 | 40 | 38 |
| Misd Drug Arrests | 51 | 14 | 65 | 65 |
| Felony Drug Arrests | 22 | 2 | 24 | 33 |
| Custodial Arrests | 55 | 16 | 71 | N/A |
| Total Citations | 241 | 265 | 506 | 478 |
| Total Warnings | 900 | 512 | 1,412 | 1,286 |
| Cash Seized | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Vehicles Seized | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| For Drug Poss. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| For Serial No. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Non-Injury Accidents | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 |
| Injury Accidents | 4 | 7 | 11 | 20 |
| Fatal Accidents | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| # of Fatalities | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
The 86th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally began last Friday, August 7, with thousands of bikers and tourists making their way to a town with a consistent population of only about 7,000.
On Monday, the South Dakota Department of Public Safety (DPS) in conjunction with South Dakota Highway Patrol data released details on the first three days of the rally. Included in the information was citations, warnings, drug arrests, and accidents.
According to the DPS data, many statistics have decreased compared to 2025, including felony drug arrests (24) and vehicular accidents resulting in injury (11). This year, total DUI arrests (40) did slightly rise from the same timeframe last year (38).
Some numbers were shockingly similar to 2025. Misdemeanor drug arrests, for example, saw no change from 65 last year, to 65 in 2026. Overall citations did rise from 478 to 506 this year.
Perhaps most importantly, fatal accidents have remained lower through the first three days of the rally. By day three last year, law enforcement confirmed 2 fatal crashes. This year there has been only one so far. Most vehicular accidents were reported Sunday afternoon and evening.
More updates from DPS are expected as the Sturgis Rally continues through this Sunday, August 16.
