This lookup is a statewide search run through the South Dakota Attorney General's office. Follow these steps:

1. Pull up the inmate lookup in your web browser.
2. Enter the surname. A common one may bring up many people, so check each with care.
3. If you know the court case number, search with that instead for a sharper result.
4. Note any number the record shows. It helps jail staff pull up the right person.
5. Phone the jail to make sure before you drive over or send money.

The jail itself answers around the clock at 605-626-7101.

A blank result tends to mean one of these:

• Still being booked. Prints, photos and paperwork take time, and the record shows up after.
• Already released. A clerk may have set bond from the schedule, or a judge might have released them on their signed promise.
• Moved. A federal hold, an ICE pickup or a jail in another county can all take a person elsewhere.
• Spelling. Search the legal first name, each half of a hyphenated last name, or a past last name.
• Under 18. Minors are held at the juvenile center and won't appear in an adult search.

Aberdeen city guidance points families to the Sheriff's Office at 605-626-7100 to confirm whether someone is locked up.

Inside the county there are two places of custody:

• County jail for adults, including people on work release or trustee duty: 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7101.
• Juvenile Detention Center for youth ages 10 to 17, with nine secure beds: 22 SE Court St., Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7102.

When the arrest took place in a neighboring county, that county's Sheriff can say where the person is held. One jail nearby:

• Day County Jail, 710 West 2nd Street, Webster, SD 57274, 605-345-3222. Marshall County adults are held here too.

McPherson County has no jail. It pays for a 2026 contract to house its adults here at the Brown County Jail.

The state search online leaves out mugshots. For a booking photo, the place to ask is the Sheriff's Office, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7100. Call during weekday office hours and explain why you need it.

• Federal booking pictures are generally not handed out. A fugitive photo is one the U.S. Marshals Service may choose to share.
• For ICE photos, file a written request on the ICE records request page.

Yes, for free. The Attorney General's office runs SAVIN at no cost. Register for a person, and SAVIN sends notice when their custody status changes, such as a release. The service runs day and night.

Help with sign-up is available at 844-299-4608, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central. Teen cases are left out of SAVIN. Victims in those cases should call the State's Attorney at 605-626-7130.

South Dakota's constitution protects the right to bail for almost every charge (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8). A judge first looks at release on a signed promise. Money bonds come in only when a promise alone won't get the person to court (SDCL 23A-43-2). On many charges, a clerk can fix bond on the spot from the statewide schedule.

• The county jail, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7101, can say if bond is set and where to pay.
• Cash bonds ordered by a judge are paid in cash to the Clerk of Courts, 101 SE 1st Avenue, Aberdeen, SD 57402, 605-626-2451.
• In a domestic abuse case, contact with the alleged victim's home is banned until the first hearing, whether direct or through others (SDCL 25-10-43). Please don't pass along notes or messages.

Amounts, bondspersons, 24/7 testing and refunds are covered on our bail and release page.

Police list a booking charge when they make the arrest. The formal charge comes later from the State's Attorney and can be different. To learn either one:

• Ask the jail at 605-626-7101 for the booking charge.
• Search Find a Court Date by name to see the case number and next hearing.
• Use the PARS record search for a case summary. Each search costs $20.
• Call the Clerk of Courts at 605-626-2451, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The judge asks about a lawyer at the first court appearance (SDCL 23A-4-3). A person who can't afford one should say so then. If the judge agrees, a lawyer is appointed and the county pays (SDCL 23A-40-6, 23A-40-8).

A repayment order to the county may follow at the end of the case (SDCL 23A-40-10). Relatives are free to retain their own attorney instead. For forms and the case number, call the Clerk of Courts at 605-626-2451. A lawyer can visit at the jail, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7101.

Yes. Friends and family can join remote video visits from home on a computer, smartphone or tablet. Visits are booked through the website of the jail's phone and video company, whose support line is 800-896-3201.

• Ask the jail at 605-626-7101 for the provider's web address, the current visit times and whether any in-person visits are held.
• Be on time, dress as you would in public and keep the call free of talk about the case.

For more on visit rules, read our visiting guide.

Deposits let the person buy extras such as snacks and soap. For the ways to deposit, the limits and any fees, call the jail at 605-626-7101. Have the person's full name ready.

Never send cash in the mail. Family members can't bring in commissary items or clothing. Our deposit guide covers common payment methods, and the commissary guide shows what the jail store sells.

Ask the jail at 605-626-7101 which company runs inmate calls, the price per call, and whether the jail has tablets or messaging.

Expect calls to be recorded. Charges and evidence are topics for the lawyer only. Two of our guides help: phone calls from jail and email and text messages.

Put the person's full legal name at the top, then this address:

Brown County Jail
22 Court St, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401

• Letters, newspapers and approved magazines are accepted only by U.S. mail.
• Packages are taken only from Amazon or the Postal Service.
• Hand-delivered mail is refused at the door.
• Sending anything illegal by mail can lead to charges.

A return address on every envelope is wise. Any other package needs the Jail Administrator's okay ahead of time. Our mail guide has more tips.

What the person had on them at arrest is kept in storage and handed back on release. If they want a relative to collect it sooner, phone 605-626-7101 during business hours. Find out if the person must sign a release first.

Clothing can't be brought in, with one exception. A single drop-off is allowed of up to five pairs of underwear, five pairs of ankle socks and three wireless bras. Bring them to 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401.

A registered nurse provides medical care and gives out medicines at the jail and the juvenile center. If the person takes a prescription, has a serious condition or may be in a mental health crisis, call 605-626-7101 right away and ask to have the nurse told.

Have the medication name, the dose and the doctor's number handy. In an emergency, call 911.

Yes. People serving a sentence may be approved to leave for a job and return to the jail. The fees are:

• $290 up front. That covers a required $10 urine test and the first two weeks at $20 a day.
• $140 for each added week.
• $75 a day for those serving a sentence from another county or state.

The jail also runs a trustee program, where sentenced prisoners take on work assignments the Sheriff approves. Ask about either program at 605-626-7101.

Deputies handle warrant arrests across the county, and city police handle them in Aberdeen. The Sheriff's Office takes warrant questions at 605-626-7100, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401. You can also check a case on UJS ePayments, which marks an active warrant, or search hearings on Find a Court Date. The court staff can answer too: Clerk of Courts, 101 SE 1st Avenue, Aberdeen, SD 57402, 605-626-2451. A lawyer should guide the next step. Usually that means surrendering together at the jail, or asking the issuing court to reset the hearing.

Hearings ahead can be found by name or case number with Find a Court Date, a free state tool. It can also show the county's calendar for a chosen day.

All state cases here, from city tickets to felonies, are handled by the Clerk of Courts, 101 SE 1st Avenue, Aberdeen, SD 57402, 605-626-2451. Staff can confirm the time and courtroom. Our court guide explains each hearing.

A federal prosecution of someone from here is filed in the Northern Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, at 102 Fourth Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401.

1. At the defendant's first time before a federal judge, the court settles whether they stay jailed (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Before any trial, a person charged federally is under U.S. Marshals control and is often housed in a county jail nearby. Ask their Aberdeen office, 102 Southeast 4th Avenue, Suite 409, Aberdeen, SD 57401-4361, 605-226-1794, for the location.
3. After sentencing, look them up on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

1. ICE requests the hold on Form I-247A.
2. Custody can then be stretched to up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Agents then pick the person up. Cases in this state run through the St. Paul Field Office of ICE, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator to see where the person is held.

A 2025 law, SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100), also applies. No county or city here may stop its workers from telling federal agencies a person's immigration status.

Felony prison time falls to the South Dakota Department of Corrections, so the person is moved out of local custody. New prisoners first go through intake, where staff decide which prison fits them.

• The DOC offender locator searches by surname, first name or DOC number.
• For facility details, open our South Dakota prisons page.
• Corrections questions go to 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

The Sheriff's Office holds teens away from adult inmates at its Juvenile Detention Center, 22 SE Court St., Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7102. Most are soon sent home to a parent or guardian. Children under 10 are not prosecuted.

• A judge may order home detention instead. Its office answers at 605-626-7103.
• For a city arrest, Aberdeen police have a juvenile officer at 605-626-7057.
• The State's Attorney's juvenile diversion program can lead to dropped charges.

Census figures for July 1, 2025 show 37,561 residents. Any of the agencies below could have made the arrest:

• Brown County Sheriff's Office, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7100. It patrols every town without its own police force and all rural areas.
• Aberdeen Police Department, 114 2nd Ave. SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401-4201, office 605-626-7000, records 605-626-7059. One of its officers is assigned to Northern State University under a contract.
• Groton Police Department, 120 N Main St, Groton, SD 57445, 605-397-8422.
• South Dakota Highway Patrol, District One, based in Aberdeen, 605-626-2286.

The county's joint 911 center dispatches for the Sheriff and city police. Its non-emergency line is 605-626-7911. For emergencies, dial 911.