Rutherford County Agencies Join Hands Across the Border Enforcement Effort

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Law enforcement agencies from North Carolina and South Carolina joined forces this week for the annual Hands Across the Border enforcement effort, working together to increase traffic safety and target impaired drivers along the North Carolina-South Carolina border.

The Rutherford County Sheriff's Office participated in the multi-agency operation on Monday, August 24, 2026, alongside law enforcement and emergency response agencies from both states.

According to the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, the increased law enforcement presence was aimed at reducing the number of motorists who choose to drive while impaired by alcohol or drugs, while also addressing other traffic violations and criminal activity encountered during the operation.

Rutherford County Results

During the August 24 operation, Rutherford County agencies reported:

• 35 traffic violations

• 1 DWI investigation

• 1 drug violation

• 1 wanted person located

The Sheriff's Office noted that these figures do not include enforcement actions or charges made by participating agencies in South Carolina.

The operation brought together agencies that regularly work across jurisdictional boundaries, recognizing that highways and communities do not stop at a state line.

Participating agencies included the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office, Rutherford County Emergency Management, Rutherford County Communications, Forest City Police Department, North Carolina Highway Patrol, South Carolina Highway Patrol, Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.

Rutherford County Sheriff Aaron Ellenburg thanked the participating agencies for their assistance and cooperation.

A Long-Running Regional Effort

Hands Across the Border is not a new enforcement initiative. The campaign has been bringing together law enforcement agencies from neighboring states for decades, with the goal of taking impaired drivers off the road and preventing crashes and deaths caused by drunk and drug-impaired driving.

The campaign originated in 1991, when law enforcement officers in Georgia and Florida began working together in an effort to reduce impaired-driving deaths. What began as a friendly challenge between neighboring law enforcement agencies grew into a larger, multi-state enforcement campaign.

Over the years, Hands Across the Border has expanded to include law enforcement agencies from several southeastern states, including North Carolina and South Carolina. The campaign has become an annual effort involving checkpoints, increased traffic enforcement and public awareness efforts.

The 2026 campaign is part of the broader national effort to combat impaired driving and is connected with the Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over campaign. South Carolina officials said this year's Hands Across the Border effort brings together state and local law enforcement partners to conduct public safety checkpoints designed to keep drunk and drugged drivers off the roads.

In South Carolina, the 2026 operation included checkpoints in several locations along or near the North Carolina border. Officials described the effort as a coordinated approach to highway safety, allowing agencies on both sides of the border to work toward the same goal.

Working Across State Lines

For communities along the North Carolina-South Carolina border, cooperation between agencies can be particularly important. Drivers regularly cross state lines for work, shopping, recreation and other daily activities, and impaired drivers can travel from one jurisdiction into another within minutes.

By coordinating enforcement efforts, agencies can increase their visibility and share resources while sending a clear message to motorists: driving impaired can put lives at risk, regardless of which side of the state line a driver is on.

The Rutherford County Sheriff's Office credited all of its local, state and South Carolina partners for helping make the August 24 operation successful.

Officials are reminding motorists that the safest choice after consuming alcohol or using an impairing substance is to find a sober driver, use a rideshare service or make other arrangements rather than getting behind the wheel.

The enforcement effort may last only a day, but the message behind Hands Across the Border remains year-round: If you are impaired, don't drive.