The state has a single court system, and the Webster courthouse holds both of its trial levels.

• Magistrate court decides misdemeanors and violations of city ordinances (SDCL 16-12B-11). Magistrates also sign arrest warrants, set bond amounts and conduct the opening hearing (SDCL 16-12B-5, 16-12B-7, 16-12B-10). On any crime capped at one year or $2,000, a magistrate can take a guilty plea and impose the sentence (SDCL 16-12B-8).
• Circuit court picks up felonies once the opening hearings are done. It also hears juvenile matters and serious jury trials.

So a felony starts in magistrate court and is bound over to circuit court later. One Clerk of Courts keeps the files for both.

A case from the county can land in one of three courts:

• Day County Courthouse, home of circuit and magistrate court: 711 W 1st St, Suite 201, Webster, SD 57274. Clerk of Courts 605-345-3771, alternative number 605-345-3785. Open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to noon, then 1 to 5 p.m. Email DayCoClerk@ujs.state.sd.us.
• Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Court: 12554 BIA Highway 711, Agency Village, SD 57262, 605-698-7629.
• U.S. District Court, Northern Division: 102 Fourth Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401. Federal pretrial officers in that building answer at 605-377-2625.

For state charges, the Webster courthouse is the only stop.

City ordinance tickets from Webster, Waubay, Andover, Bristol, Pierpont and Roslyn go before the magistrate judge at the county courthouse (SDCL 16-12B-11): 711 W 1st St, Suite 201, Webster, SD 57274, 605-345-3771.

Lake Traverse Reservation land covers part of the county. Arrests of tribal members by tribal police there usually head to the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Court, 12554 BIA Highway 711, Agency Village, SD 57262, 605-698-7629. Mail goes to PO Box 568, Agency Village, SD 57262. The gravest crimes on reservation land may instead be charged in federal court.

It moves fast. No plea is taken yet (SDCL 23A-4-3). A video hookup from the Webster jail can stand in for the courtroom (SDCL 23A-4-1). During this hearing the magistrate will:

1. State what the charge is.
2. Tell the defendant about hiring counsel, or getting one the county pays for.
3. Point out that the defendant can stay silent.
4. Decide release terms, or leave a schedule bond in place.
5. On a felony, describe the right to a preliminary hearing.

The law asks for this "without unnecessary delay" and names no hour limit. Jail staff at 605-345-3222 know when the hearing is on the calendar.

Misdemeanor files almost always remain with the magistrate judge. At arraignment the defendant pleads guilty or not guilty. Plenty settle by agreement. A not guilty answer leads the clerk to set trial.

The two classes carry these limits (SDCL 22-6-2):

• Class 1 misdemeanor (for example, DUI number one or two). Maximum: a year in county jail, $2,000, or both.
• Class 2 misdemeanor. Maximum: 30 days behind bars locally, $500, or both.

In DUI cases, judges often order the 24/7 Sobriety Program, with breath tests morning and evening. Fees are paid at the Sheriff's Office. Webster hosts DUI classes, and the Clerk of Courts can help get one scheduled.

Felonies travel upward through these stages:

1. First appearance. A magistrate sets bond and takes the request for counsel.
2. Preliminary hearing. The magistrate weighs whether enough evidence exists to keep the case alive. The law sets a clock (SDCL 23A-4-3): 15 days from that first court date when the accused stays locked up, and 45 when released. The defense may waive it, and a grand jury indictment cancels it.
3. Formal charge. The State's Attorney's own filing, known as an information, is the norm. Grand juries, 6 to 10 citizens strong, meet only when a circuit judge wants one (SDCL 23A-5-1).
4. Arraignment. Standing before a circuit judge, the defendant pleads to the formal charge.
5. Trial. A 180-day clock starts at the first appearance, and delays the defense asks for pause it (SDCL 23A-44-5.1).
6. Sentencing.

Under SDCL 22-6-1, a Class 6 conviction, the mildest felony, allows up to two years and $4,000, Class 5 at five years, and Class 1 at fifty. For Classes 5 and 6, probation is the starting point unless aggravating facts exist (SDCL 22-6-11).

The most serious charges face stricter rules along the way:

• Bond. A clerk can't use the chart for murder, kidnapping or first-degree manslaughter. Those charges need a judge's decision. So does every domestic abuse arrest, with no-contact rules attached (SDCL 25-10-40).
• Sentences. Classes A, B and C allow life, and Class A allows death (SDCL 22-6-1).
• Juror strikes. Prosecution and defense get 20 strikes each in Class A, B, C and 1 trials, and 10 in other felonies (SDCL 23A-20-20).
• Reservation land. Say a tribal member is charged with murder or robbery on Lake Traverse land. A federal judge gets that case, under a law called the Major Crimes Act.

Outright denial of bail is reserved by the constitution for death-penalty charges backed by strong proof (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8).

Charges are brought by the State's Attorney, 711 W 1st St, Suite 213, Webster, SD 57274, 605-345-4624.

On the defense side, tell the judge at the first hearing when there is no money for counsel. The county is required to pay for appointed counsel on request (SDCL 23A-40-6, 23A-40-8), through a defender office, court-picked attorneys or contract attorneys (SDCL 23A-40-7). Later, the defendant may owe that cost back to the county. A lien may follow, but no one loses a homestead over it (SDCL 23A-40-10, 23A-40-15). The state Office of Indigent Legal Services takes appeals only.

For addiction or mental illness, a treatment court may fit, and referral starts with the defense lawyer. In the Fifth Circuit, that program is the Brown County Drug & DUI Court in Aberdeen. The UJS Division of Treatment Courts at 605-773-4161 can say whether a Webster case qualifies.

Pick whichever fits:

• No cost: Find a Court Date shows upcoming hearings once you enter a person or case number, and builds each county's daily calendar.
• $20 each: PARS returns a case summary, and the fee applies even when nothing matches.
• Clerk of Courts: call 605-345-3771, or use the public terminals in the Webster courthouse to view case records.

Hearing reminders are available through UJS notifications.

Warrants get served by the Sheriff's deputies and by Webster police. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 605-345-3222, or Webster police at 605-345-4040. A case with a live warrant is flagged on UJS ePayments. For statewide checks, open the Sex Offender Registry, plus the corrections department's Most Wanted list of prisoners who escaped or walked off. To resolve one, call a defense lawyer before anything else. Together, plan a surrender at the jail or the court. Clerk of Courts: 711 W 1st St, Suite 201, Webster, SD 57274, 605-345-3771.

When the U.S. government files charges here, the case goes to the Northern Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, sitting at 102 Fourth Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401.

1. Release or custody is decided at a detention hearing, which federal law sets for the defendant's first court appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. If release is refused, U.S. Marshals take over custody. Their office is at 102 Southeast 4th Avenue, Suite 409, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-226-1794.
3. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Aberdeen branch handle the case, 605-226-7264.
4. Once a prison term starts, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

The Webster case continues as normal. What changes is the release day. Step by step:

1. Federal immigration staff file Form I-247A with the Webster jail.
2. When release on the state charge arrives, the jail may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE may pick them up then. South Dakota is handled from the St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600.
4. Follow any move on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100) took effect in 2025. Towns like Waubay, and the county too, may not gag their staff about someone's legal status when federal officials ask.

The level of the crime decides. For misdemeanors, the time is done in a county lockup, such as the one in Webster. A felony prison term means custody of the South Dakota Department of Corrections (SDCL 22-6-1). Prison isn't automatic for Class 5 and 6 felonies, either. A judge may choose a local jail stay, capped at 12 months, instead (SDCL 22-6-1.1).

• Use the DOC offender locator to see which prison holds someone.
• Our South Dakota prisons page gives a short profile of each prison.
• DOC central office: 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

Probation officers with Court Services keep a line at the courthouse, 605-345-3773.

Circuit court hears juvenile cases, and delinquency law starts at age 10 (SDCL 26-8C-2). Police normally send a child home with family. Whether a child stays in detention is decided by an intake officer, using only the reasons the statute allows (SDCL 26-8C-3). A youth faces adult court only if a judge rules that way after a transfer hearing (SDCL 26-11-4).

When a youth must be held, the state-approved juvenile space at the Webster jail is usually where they stay: 710 W 2nd St, Webster, SD 57274, 605-345-3222. Parents and guardians set up visits with staff.

The state constitution's Marsy's Law promises victims notice of proceedings, the chance to attend, the right to speak up at hearings on bail, plea deals and the sentence, and full restitution (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29). Officers hand victims a Marsy's Card.

• Free release alerts: SAVIN, or 844-299-4608 on weekdays.
• Protection orders: Clerk of Courts, 605-345-3771.
• State domestic abuse hotline: 800-430-7233.
• Crime Victim Compensation: 800-696-9476.
• Safe Harbor, 310 S Kline Street, Aberdeen, SD 57402, 605-226-1212.
• Beacon Center, 801 Jenson Ave S, Watertown, SD 57201, 605-886-4300.

Victims with questions about a hearing can call the State's Attorney's office.