The Mineral County DUI Task Force at a recent special meeting welcomed its new coordinator, Matthew ‘Matt’ Hurteau, who is a patrol deputy with the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office.

Hurteau has taken the position that Ernie Ornelas held for several years. Ornelas remains on the task force but is lessening his load of responsibility. 

Hurteau was recommended by Sheriff Ryan Funke and has been with the Sheriff's Office for a year. 

“I’m looking at what we [DUI Task Force] have been doing and what was done in years past. See if there is anything that we want to add or remove, but honestly, for the first part just figure out what we are doing,” he said. 

Hurteau has a degree in criminal justice and a minor in economics from Northeastern University in Boston, and extensive training in fire investigation which was a career he’d thought about pursuing. He has owned a construction company for over 25 years that is now in Missoula, and prior to that he was the operations manager of a landscape company with over 200 employees. 

He moved his wife and four children to Montana from Wisconsin five years ago and commutes from the Garden City, but lives in Mineral County on the days he works. 

"This is the job that I love to do and I’ve always wanted to do,” he beams about his position at the Sheriff's Office.

Also at the special meeting, the group discussed offering free rides home from the Mineral County Fair on Friday and Saturday nights when excessive libations may have been consumed. Working with Superior Taxi, the rides would take place from the fairgrounds to Alberton and St. Regis from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. each night. 

The details were expected to be worked out, but it was agreed that the goals of any DUI Task Force are to prevent driving under the influence of alcohol, reduce alcohol-related traffic accidents and educate the public on the extreme dangers of impaired driving. There are 36 county-level approved DUI Task forces serving 39 counties in Montana under the Montana Department of Transportation.

The second point of business at the meeting was double checking that the Mineral County DUI Task Force scholarship applications were available online. And they are, with each high school counselor notified and encouraged to inform the students at St. Regis, Superior and Alberton. One student from each school will receive $500 from the task force with the entry deadline in early April.

“I’m just excited about this task force and believe we can do a lot of good with it,” said Hurteau. “We should be in the schools as much as possible and at as many public events as we can to let everyone know that we’re out there and utilize the funds we have for more equipment or training. And hopefully get into some of the driver’s education classes to share what we do. I’m looking very forward to the possibilities in front of us.”