Five quick steps:

1. Load the official inmate lookup page.
2. Type a surname into the search, then a given name. Nothing comes up? Add a middle name or test other spellings.
3. Write down the custody status and the location shown.
4. Save any booking or offender number. Jail staff work faster with it.
5. Confirm by phoning 605-487-7625. Jail staff can say if the person was booked, transferred or freed.

Another no-cost option is SAVIN, run through the Attorney General to keep victims informed. It shows custody status and lets anyone register for release notices.

Several things can cause an empty result:

• Still in booking. Records take time to update.
• Released. Someone paid the bond, or a judge ordered them out.
• Elsewhere. A transfer to another jail, a federal hold or a prison sentence moves them off this list.
• Name variations. Search nicknames, maiden names or both last names.
• Minors. Teens in custody stay at a youth facility, not here.

The jail answers 605-487-7625 day or night. If charges are already filed, the Clerk of Courts at 605-487-7511 can confirm the case and its next date.

The county has just one adult jail, but many agencies use it:

• Charles Mix jail, 215 S 6th St, Lake Andes, SD 57356, 605-487-7625. Run by the Sheriff, it books most adults arrested in the county. It also houses prisoners for the Yankton Sioux Tribe and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, along with people from Douglas and other counties. The state sheriffs' association puts it at about 60 beds.
• Anyone under 18 goes by county contract to a Sioux Falls site, Minnehaha County Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 4200 S. West Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57105, 605-367-4313.
• Arrests near a county line can end up in a neighboring jail, for example the Davison County Jail, 1015 S. Miller Avenue, Mitchell, SD 57301, 605-995-8639, which also takes some Douglas prisoners.

Part of the county is Yankton Sioux Reservation land. A tribal member picked up there by tribal officers will usually face tribal court, and tribal prisoners are kept at this same county jail. The most serious reservation crimes can become federal cases. Ask staff which agency's hold applies.

The Sheriff's Office decides; mugshots are not part of the online state search. Phone 605-487-7625 to ask if a booking photo can be shared and how to put in a request. Members of the news media go through the same office.

• An ICE booking photo takes a request on ICE's FOIA records page.
• Federal booking photos rarely become public. Now and then the Marshals Service posts one of a wanted fugitive.

Yes. South Dakota's SAVIN service is free. Register on the website, or phone 844-299-4608 between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Central on weekdays. It notifies you when custody status changes, for instance on release. Juvenile cases are outside SAVIN.

You must sign up yourself, since it doesn't happen automatically. For a fast answer about a single person, the jail at 605-487-7625 is quicker.

State law starts with the lightest option, a simple promise to come back. Money or other terms get added only when needed (SDCL 23A-43-2, 23A-43-3). Clerks set many misdemeanor bonds from a statewide schedule, and a judge must handle serious felonies and domestic assault.

• Get the amount and the payment location from the jail at 605-487-7625.
• Reach the Clerk of Courts at 400 E. Main Street, Lake Andes, SD 57356, 605-487-7511, on weekdays between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• In a domestic case, no calls, visits or relayed messages to the alleged victim's home are allowed before the first court date (SDCL 25-10-43).
• Alcohol and drug cases may come with 24/7 Sobriety Program testing as a bond term.

See our bail page for amounts, payment, bondspersons and refunds.

Ask jail staff at 605-487-7625 for the booking charge. After the State's Attorney files, the court file lists the formal count. UJS eCourts shows docket entries free, and PARS gives a case summary for $20 a search.

The State's Attorney makes the final charging call. That office's mail goes to PO Box 370, Lake Andes, SD 57356, 605-487-7441. Charges in South Dakota carry a class label, like Class 1 misdemeanor or Class 6 felony (SDCL 22-6-1, 22-6-2).

The judge explains at the first appearance that the person may request appointed counsel (SDCL 23A-4-3). For someone who can't afford a lawyer, the judge names one and the county pays (SDCL 23A-40-6, 23A-40-8). Repayment may be ordered later.

• The Clerk of Courts, 605-487-7511, hands out the application.
• Circuit rules for appointed attorneys sit on the First Circuit forms page.
• Families may hire private counsel whenever they choose.

Phone the jail at 605-487-7625 ahead of any trip. Find out the visiting days and times, how to reserve a slot, the guest limit, ID requirements and dress rules. Also ask whether visits by video are offered, either from home or at a kiosk, and what they cost. Schedules can shift on short notice.

Jails commonly require photo ID for adult visitors and want phones and purses left outside. Minors normally come with a parent or guardian. Our visiting guide offers further tips for a first trip.

Funds on an inmate account cover canteen items, hygiene products and phone time. Call 605-487-7625 to ask about current deposit methods, limits and fees. Know the inmate's legal name and birth date before calling. Never mail loose cash.

Deposit options seen at many jails fill our money guide, while the commissary guide explains what a jail store sells.

Each jail picks its own phone and tablet vendor. Ask at 605-487-7625 how to set up an account, what each call costs, and whether messaging, email or tablets are available. Assume every call is recorded. Keep case facts off the line and save them for the defense lawyer.

Want more? Read about calling costs in our jail phone guide and about messaging in the guide to inmate email and texting.

The Sheriff uses PO Box 610, Lake Andes, SD 57356 for mail. Call 605-487-7625 first to confirm that box works for inmate letters, which name and number to write, and whether photos, books or magazines may come in.

Address the envelope with the inmate's full legal name and include your own return address. Don't tuck money into a letter. Typical rules on letters, photos and packages are in our mail guide.

Items collected during booking are stored until release. Phone 605-487-7625 to find out when property may be claimed, whether the inmate has to sign it over, and how any account balance is refunded. Bring photo ID to 215 S 6th St, Lake Andes, SD 57356.

Because a county may bill a prisoner for confinement costs (SDCL 24-11-45), ask if anything is owed.

Responsibility for the jail rests with the Sheriff (SDCL 24-11-13). Call 605-487-7625 right away if they are sick, hurt or missing medicine. Tell staff the medicine and dose, and who prescribed it, with a number for that doctor.

Outside the jail, emergencies go to 911. If suicide or a breakdown is a worry, tell the dispatcher directly. Mental health holds in the county are among the Sheriff's Department's duties.

County deputies serve warrants everywhere in the county, while Wagner police serve those inside Wagner. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 605-487-7625 or Wagner police at 605-384-3222. Online, the state offers the DOC Most Wanted page for escaped or walkaway prisoners and the Sex Offender Registry. A case with an open warrant also carries a notice on UJS ePayments. Clerk staff will look one up over the phone or in person at 400 E. Main Street, Lake Andes, SD 57356, 605-487-7511. Let a defense attorney weigh in before anything else. The next move is a voluntary walk-in at the jail, 215 S 6th St, Lake Andes, SD 57356, or a phone call to that court's clerk to get the hearing reset.

• Find a Court Date is free to use, with a name or a case number.
• Clerk staff pick up at 605-487-7511 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.
• Tribal matters: Yankton Sioux Tribal Court, P.O. Box 1153, Wagner, SD 57380, 605-384-3641.
• Federal matters: the U.S. District Court clerk, 400 S. Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-330-6600.

Our court guide maps each step, from first appearance to sentencing.

Federal charges from this county land in Sioux Falls at the U.S. District Court, 400 S. Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-330-6600.

1. Right at the start, a federal judge rules on detention (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. While the case is open, the Marshals Service keeps custody and often rents county jail beds. To learn where, call its office at 400 South Phillips Avenue, Room 216, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-330-4351.
3. After sentencing, look them up on the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Major Crimes Act cases from the reservation, like murder or felony assault, fall in this federal track (18 U.S.C. 1153).

1. Immigration officers may file an I-247A detainer.
2. With that in hand, staff can hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers collect the person for a facility tied to the St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600. In South Dakota, ICE's facility list names the Pennington County Jail, 307 Saint Joseph St, Rapid City, SD 57701, 605-394-6116.
4. The ICE Online Detainee Locator works with an A-number. Without one, try a name along with the birth country.
5. SB 7, a 2025 law, says no South Dakota county or city may limit sharing immigration status with federal officials (SL 2025, ch 100).

After a felony prison sentence, the South Dakota Department of Corrections takes over from the county. The state then assigns a prison.

• The DOC offender locator lists people in state prisons, by name or DOC ID. County jail inmates and probationers don't appear there.
• Facility information is in our South Dakota prison guide.
• DOC headquarters: 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.
• Board of Pardons and Paroles: 605-367-5040.

No teenager should be held in the adult jail. When a youth from here must be locked up, the county sends them to its contracted center, Minnehaha County Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 4200 S. West Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57105, 605-367-4313. Staff are there around the clock, and it serves 16 counties.

• Most youths are released to a parent. State law lists the only grounds for secure detention (SDCL 26-8C-3).
• Delinquency cases go to circuit court and can involve children as young as 10 (SDCL 26-8C-2).
• Court Services at 605-487-7102 can share hearing details.

Jail staff can say which agency made the arrest, since it is part of the booking file. Agencies working in the county:

• Sheriff's Office, 215 S 6th St, Lake Andes, SD 57356, 605-487-7625, staffed 24/7. Deputies cover the countryside and every town without its own department, such as Lake Andes and Geddes. The office also dispatches 911 calls for this county and Douglas.
• Wagner Police Department, 60 S Main Ave, Wagner, SD 57380, 605-384-3222, working 24 hours a day.
• Platte Police Department, in the city of Platte, 605-337-2144 (number from the U.S. Attorney's 2023 victim services directory). Ask the Sheriff's Office for its street address.
• Yankton Sioux Tribal Police, 450 School Street, Lake Andes, SD 57356, 605-487-7500. Office hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, with officers answering calls 24/7. Tribal members arrested on reservation land usually face tribal court, while major crimes may go federal.
• BIA Yankton Agency, 29775 S. Main St., Wagner, SD 57380, 605-384-3651.
• South Dakota Highway Patrol, District Two, 5316 West 60th Street North, Sioux Falls, SD 57107, 605-367-5700.