South Dakota runs one statewide court system, the Unified Judicial System, split into seven circuits. This county is in the Third Circuit. Two kinds of state judges hear its criminal cases, both in the same courthouse:

• Magistrate court handles misdemeanors and city ordinance cases (SDCL 16-12B-11). Its judges issue warrants, fix bond and run first appearances too (SDCL 16-12B-5, 16-12B-7, 16-12B-10). Guilty pleas on charges capped at a $2,000 fine or a year in jail can be accepted there as well (SDCL 16-12B-8).
• Circuit court handles every felony, plus juvenile cases. Felony cases open in magistrate court, then get bound over to circuit court.

Misdemeanors mean county jail time at most. Felonies can mean a state prison term.

Every state criminal case from the county is heard at one address. Offices you may need:

• Clerk of Courts (circuit and magistrate court), 450 3rd Street SW, Suite 204, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-7165. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Files, fines, forms and court dates all run through here.
• State's Attorney, 450 3rd St SW, Suite 108, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8430. Open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.
• Court Services (probation), 455 4th Street SW, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-7161.
• Drug and DUI Court, 455 4th Street SW, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8598. Its hearings take place at the courthouse on Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

When you visit any of these offices, bring the case number and a photo ID.

No town in the county has a separate city court. In South Dakota, a city ordinance case goes to the county's magistrate court (SDCL 16-12B-11).

So a ticket or arrest by Huron police is heard at the courthouse, 450 3rd Street SW, Huron, SD 57350. Arrests by deputies in Wolsey, Wessington, Cavour, Iroquois, Yale, Virgil, Broadland, Bonilla, Hitchcock or Lake Byron end up there too. The clerk's window can answer questions about any of them at 605-353-7165.

South Dakota's rule is that officers bring the person in "without unnecessary delay," to whichever judge is closest (SDCL 23A-4-1). It may happen in person or over a video screen at the jail. In this circuit, a judge also has 48 hours to find probable cause for anyone still held, or the jail lets them go.

No plea is taken at this hearing. Instead, the judge explains (SDCL 23A-4-3):

• the charge, in plain terms
• that a lawyer can be hired, or requested from the court at county expense
• how release before trial can work
• that silence is a right, and nothing has to be said
• in a felony case, a chance at a preliminary hearing to test the evidence

Release terms are set at this same appearance, starting from personal recognizance (SDCL 23A-43-2).

Most misdemeanors never leave magistrate court. After the State's Attorney's complaint is filed, the defendant responds with a plea. When that plea is not guilty, a trial date gets set.

State law sets two misdemeanor levels (SDCL 22-6-2):

• Class 1: up to one year in the county jail, a $2,000 fine, or both. Simple assault belongs here, and so does a DUI the first or second time.
• Class 2: up to 30 days in the county jail, a $500 fine, or both.

The schedule of set fines gives totals for many tickets, such as $132.50 for disorderly conduct and $282.50 for driving with a suspended license. Under the 180-day rule (SDCL 23A-44-5.1), the State has that long from the first appearance to bring the case to trial, and stretches caused by defense requests are not counted. Ask the State's Attorney whether diversion could fit the case.

A felony usually follows this path:

1. First appearance before a magistrate judge, who handles bond.
2. Preliminary hearing. At this hearing a judge looks for probable cause. It must be held within 15 days while the defendant sits in jail, or 45 days once bonded out, unless waived (SDCL 23A-4-3).
3. Information or indictment. Usually the State's Attorney files a paper called an information. Grand juries, which have 6 to 10 members, are rare and sit only at a circuit judge's call (SDCL 23A-5-1). An indictment that comes first cancels the preliminary hearing.
4. Arraignment and trial before a circuit judge, subject to the 180-day rule (SDCL 23A-44-5.1).
5. Sentencing after a plea or verdict.

Felonies run from Class 6 up to Class A (SDCL 22-6-1). A Class 6 felony means up to two years and $4,000. Class 5 means up to five years. Judges start from probation for both (SDCL 22-6-11), though a county jail sentence of up to one year is also possible (SDCL 22-6-1.1).

Five rules stand out:

• Bond. A capital charge with strong proof is the only case where bail can be refused outright (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8). Murder, first-degree manslaughter and kidnapping always go to a judge for bond.
• Domestic cases. Officers must notify a judge before release (SDCL 25-10-40). Until the first appearance, reaching out to the alleged victim or that household, even through a go-between, is a crime (SDCL 25-10-43).
• Longer terms. Higher felony classes carry far more time. Class 1 allows up to 50 years, Class 2 up to 25, and Classes A, B and C up to life (SDCL 22-6-1).
• Jury picks. Each side may strike some jurors without giving a reason. In the top felony classes, that number is 20 per side. In other felonies it is 10 (SDCL 23A-20-20).
• Victims' voice. A victim can speak to the judge about release, a plea bargain or the sentence (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29).

The Beadle County State's Attorney's Office prosecutes adult and juvenile crimes. It is at 450 3rd St SW, Suite 108, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8430, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Anyone who can't pay a lawyer should tell the judge so at that first hearing and request one (SDCL 23A-40-6). The county covers the cost, using whichever setup it has chosen: assigned private lawyers, lawyers under contract, or a public defender office (SDCL 23A-40-7, 23A-40-8). The court may later order repayment, even after a dismissal or acquittal (SDCL 23A-40-10). The county can place a lien on property, though never by foreclosing on the person's home (SDCL 23A-40-15).

For details on how lawyers are assigned in this courthouse, call the Clerk of Courts at 605-353-7165.

Some people can avoid a conviction or get help with addiction instead of only punishment. Two local paths exist:

• State's Attorney diversion. The office runs several programs, including CAP, Diversion, DWI Diversion, Positive Diversion and Restorative Justice. Rules and costs differ for each. Ask the office at 605-353-8430 whether a case could qualify.
• Drug and DUI Court. This treatment court has separate drug and DUI tracks. It lasts at least 14 months, in five phases. Participants come to court every week at first, then less often, and take random tests at the jail. The office number is 605-353-8598.

A referral usually comes through the defense lawyer. For statewide treatment court questions, the Unified Judicial System's treatment court division answers at 605-773-4161.

Three tools cover most needs:

1. Find a Court Date is a free search by name or case number that lists upcoming hearings. It can also print a public court calendar for a chosen county, today through nine business days out.
2. Public Access Record Search (PARS) gives short summaries of public criminal files dating back to 1989. Each search costs $20, even when nothing turns up.
3. The clerk's office at 450 3rd Street SW, Suite 204, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-7165, can give dates and case numbers by phone. Its public terminal lets you view and print the records a PARS summary shows.

Sheriff's deputies serve arrest and bench warrants countywide from 455 4th St SW, Suite 100, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8424. Huron Police Department officers, 239 Wisconsin Avenue SW, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8550, serve them in town. Online checks: the State's Attorney's Most Wanted list, the state prison system's Most Wanted page for escapees, the Sex Offender Registry, and UJS ePayments, which flags a case warrant. To clear one, have a lawyer call the Clerk of Courts, 450 3rd Street SW, Suite 204, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-7165, then turn in together.

A federal crime from this county goes to the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, Southern Division. That court sits at the United States Courthouse, 400 S. Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104. Its clerk's office is Room 128, 605-330-6600.

• Detention hearing. Release or jail until trial is decided by a federal judge, normally when the defendant first appears (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Custody. Federal defendants are housed where the U.S. Marshals Service places them. Its office is at 400 South Phillips Avenue, Room 216, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-330-4351.
• Prosecution. U.S. Attorney's Office, P.O. Box 2638, Sioux Falls, SD 57101, 605-330-4400.
• Pretrial and probation officers. 314 S. Main Ave., Suite 100, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-977-8900.
• After a sentence. Use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Immigration and criminal court run on separate tracks. Winning release in the state case may simply hand the person to ICE. Here is how it unfolds:

1. A detainer (Form I-247A) is filed by ICE at the Correction Center.
2. The form requests a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. The ICE office for South Dakota is the St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600.
4. To see where ICE has placed someone, use the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Non-citizens face extra risk from a guilty plea, so raise immigration questions with the defense lawyer first. A 2025 state law, SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100), also matters. Under it, a South Dakota county or city can't bar its own workers from giving federal officials someone's immigration status.

A misdemeanor sentence means county jail. Felony prison terms are carried out under the South Dakota Department of Corrections (SDCL 22-6-1).

After sentencing, the county jail keeps the person until DOC takes over and chooses a prison.

• Search the DOC offender locator, which lists people sentenced to the state.
• Read about each facility on our South Dakota state prisons page.

Circuit court takes cases against young people. The law covers children age 10 and older (SDCL 26-8C-2).

• Police usually release a child to a parent or guardian. Detention is ordered by an intake officer, only for the reasons set out in the statute, and only when nothing milder will do (SDCL 26-8C-3).
• Third Circuit intake relies on a risk assessment tool when weighing release against detention.
• Youths who are held stay in the county's own juvenile detention center. It is part of the Correction Center building, 455 4th Street SW, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8424.
• A youth's case can be moved to adult court only by a circuit judge after a transfer hearing (SDCL 26-11-4).

The State's Attorney's Office has a coordinator for juvenile services and diversion at 605-353-8430.

South Dakota voters added Marsy's Law to the state constitution. Among other things, it gives victims (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29):

• advance word of hearings, and a seat in the courtroom
• the chance to be heard when a judge decides release, a plea or a sentence
• full and timely restitution
• protection from the accused, and prompt word of a release or escape

The State's Attorney's Office has a victim services director at 605-353-8430. To get free release alerts, sign up with SAVIN, the state's notice service, or call 844-299-4608 on weekdays. Victims in juvenile cases get updates from the State's Attorney's Office.