It’s just about time for earlier sundowns and an extra hour of sleep — or whatever one’s activity of choice might be during the early-morning hours.

Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, meaning clocks fall back one hour.

For many, the effective extra hour during the early morning will mean some additional sleep or perhaps an early start Sunday morning. But for many area bar patrons, it could mean an extra hour of drinking.

That means Lawrence police will have their eyes open early Sunday, said Lawrence Police Sgt. Trent McKinley.

“Just having that additional hour to consume alcohol potentially poses some problems,” McKinley said.

In Kansas, the 2 a.m. finish of daylight saving time happens to coincide with the mandated closing time for bars. So on that day, some bars take the opportunity to remain open for an extra hour, McKinley said.

And because bar crowds in Lawrence tend to follow a nightly pattern, he said — beginning to pour in at 11 p.m., leading to packed houses around midnight — that additional hour can lead to more intoxicated people out and about.

McKinley said the police department is hoping that bar patrons line up a safe ride home Saturday night (or, to be more precise, Sunday morning).

But officers will be prepared in case they don’t.

“We’re going to be aware we may have more alcohol-related issues on those given nights,” McKinley said.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical leaders, meanwhile, like to use the “fall back” occasion, as well as the “spring forward” date each March, to remind people to conduct a twice-a-year check of the batteries in their smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, district chief Eve Tolefree said.

It makes for a catchy slogan, she said: “Change your clock; change your battery.”

“This is probably the best time when people will cognitively remember to do that,” Tolefree said.

The department recommends residents change the batteries in their alarms at least once a year.

Of course, the end of daylight saving time will also mean less daylight during the afternoon and evening. For Sunday, the National Weather Service lists a 5:17 p.m. sunset for Lawrence.

Federal law ends daylight saving time on the first Sunday in November, and it starts again at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March. That date for next year, for those who’d like to mark their calendars, is March 10.