The county courthouse houses two levels of state court, both in the Fifth Judicial Circuit:

• Magistrate court tries misdemeanors and violations of town ordinances (SDCL 16-12B-11). A magistrate judge issues arrest warrants, sets bond and presides over opening hearings (SDCL 16-12B-5, 16-12B-7, 16-12B-10). Guilty pleas carrying up to a year or $2,000 can be accepted and sentenced right there (SDCL 16-12B-8).
• Clerk magistrates deal with the lightest offenses, where the worst outcome is $500 or 30 days (SDCL 16-12C-11).
• Circuit court receives felonies after their early stages, plus all juvenile matters.

Put simply, a drunk-driving arrest or a scuffle outside a bar normally starts and finishes with a magistrate. A break-in charge begins at that level as well but moves up for trial.

Every state criminal file from the county runs through a single clerk's office:

• Clerk of Courts, 210 2nd Ave., Ipswich, SD 57451, 605-426-6671. Hours run Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. until noon, then 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The postal box is PO Box 384, Ipswich, SD 57451-0384. Staff read email at EdmundsCoclerk@ujs.state.sd.us.
• Court Services, the court's probation office for this area, 101 First Avenue SE, Suite 101, Aberdeen, SD 57402, 605-626-2275.

Visitors may use the courthouse's public terminal to read open records. Interested in a drug, DUI, veterans or mental health program? Start with the state treatment court listing, or dial 605-773-4161.

No. In South Dakota, ordinance tickets from towns such as Bowdle, Roscoe, Hosmer and Mina, and from the county seat, are decided by the county's magistrate court (SDCL 16-12B-11).

So whether the citation came from a town or from a deputy, the paperwork lives with the Clerk of Courts, 210 2nd Ave., Ipswich, SD 57451, 605-426-6671. Keep the ticket handy when calling, because its number lets staff locate the file fast.

The law says officers bring an arrested person before a magistrate "without unnecessary delay" (SDCL 23A-4-1). Some stand in the courtroom. Others join on a TV link from the jail.

Pleas wait until later. At this hearing the magistrate's job is to explain (SDCL 23A-4-3):

• the exact accusation
• the right to retain counsel, or to ask for an appointed one when money is short
• the release decision and its conditions
• that silence is allowed
• for felonies, the option of a preliminary hearing

Any bond amount is normally fixed during this first session too.

Misdemeanor complaints come from the State's Attorney and land in magistrate court. Arraignment is where the plea is entered. A plea of not guilty brings a trial date, though few of these files ever leave magistrate court.

• Class 1, which includes first and second DUI offenses: a sentence of up to 12 months in county jail and up to $2,000 (SDCL 22-6-2).
• Class 2: no more than 30 days behind bars and $500.
• Everyday tickets have fixed totals on the state's schedule. Disorderly conduct comes to $132.50, and driving while suspended to $282.50, costs included.

Judges may also attach 24/7 sobriety testing to probation or a suspended sentence (SDCL 1-11-21). Pay fines online with a card through UJS ePayments. Short on funds? Ask the judge for an extension, then sign a monthly payment deal at the clerk's counter.

Expect these stops:

1. Opening hearing before a magistrate, which settles release.
2. Preliminary hearing, if the defense doesn't waive it. The deadline is 15 days after that opening hearing for a jailed defendant, or 45 days if free. An indictment returned first cancels it (SDCL 23A-4-3).
3. Charging paper. In most files, the State's Attorney writes an information. Grand juries are rare here; one meets only when a circuit judge orders it, with six to ten jurors (SDCL 23A-5-1).
4. Circuit court arraignment, then trial. The state gives prosecutors 180 days from that first court date to begin trial; postponements the defense wanted aren't counted (SDCL 23A-44-5.1).
5. Sentencing, after a conviction or a plea deal.

Penalty ceilings rise with each class (SDCL 22-6-1). A Class 6 felony means two years and $4,000 at most; Class 5 means five years. Class 4 means ten years in prison, Class 3 fifteen years, Class 2 twenty-five years and Class 1 fifty years. Life is the limit for Classes C and B, while Class A adds the death penalty. Judges begin from probation on Class 5 and Class 6 cases (SDCL 22-6-11).

Yes. Grave charges carry stricter handling:

• Bond. Where the death penalty is possible and guilt seems clear, the constitution lets a court refuse bail outright (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8). For kidnapping, murder and first-degree manslaughter, only a judge, not a clerk, can set bond.
• Family violence. Before letting the person go, police must notify a judge, who then rules on bond. Terms can include staying away, moving out, giving up alcohol and attending counseling (SDCL 25-10-40, 25-10-41). Reaching out to the alleged victim's household before court, directly or by way of someone else, is its own offense (SDCL 25-10-43).
• Juror strikes. In trials on the gravest felonies, those in Classes A, B, C and 1, each lawyer may dismiss 20 potential jurors without explaining why. That drops to 10 in other felony trials and 3 for misdemeanors (SDCL 23A-20-20).
• Victim input. Marsy's Law gives victims the right to address the court about bond, plea deals and the sentence (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29).

Charges are brought by the State's Attorney, 509 Bloemedaal Dr, Ipswich, SD 57451, 605-426-6319. This one office covers Potter County as well.

A defendant who can't hire a lawyer should tell the judge. Counties must supply defense counsel to those who qualify, by a public defender office, appointments or contracts, and they foot the bill (SDCL 23A-40-6, 23A-40-7, 23A-40-8).

• A not-guilty verdict doesn't rule out an order to cover the county's cost, possibly through installments (SDCL 23A-40-10).
• The county can record a lien for that sum, yet it may not foreclose against the family homestead (SDCL 23A-40-11, 23A-40-15).
• Since 2024, appeals for low-income defendants have gone to the state Office of Indigent Legal Services.

South Dakota's court system offers these online options:

• Find a Court Date costs nothing. Enter the defendant's name or the file number for future settings, or print the local calendar covering today and nine more business days.
• PARS shows short case summaries going back to 1989, for a $20 fee on every search, hits or not.
• UJS eCourts shows each public case's docket entries.

Edmunds keeps a public terminal in its courthouse for checking cases. For older or complete files, contact the Clerk of Courts at 605-426-6671.

Here, warrants of every kind are served by sheriff's deputies. Call them any hour at 605-426-6002. For a case already filed, UJS ePayments will show whether a warrant is active. State lists worth checking are the state's wanted escapees and the offender registry. Courthouse staff can check as well: Clerk of Courts, 210 2nd Ave., Ipswich, SD 57451, 605-426-6671. To resolve one, hire or call a defense lawyer, and walk in side by side at the Detention Center, 221 2nd Street, Ipswich, SD 57451.

Federal charges from here belong to the federal court's Northern Division, located at 102 Fourth Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401. Filing questions are answered by the clerk at 400 S. Phillips Ave., Room 128, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-330-6600.

• Detention is argued at the defendant's opening federal hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Prosecution is handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Dakota, P.O. Box 2638, Sioux Falls, SD 57101, 605-330-4400.
• Deputy U.S. marshals keep and move federal prisoners. They work from 102 Southeast 4th Avenue, Suite 409, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-226-1794.
• Post-sentence, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No, not the charge itself. The state case goes forward in the Fifth Circuit as usual, though ICE paperwork can delay the walk out the door:

1. ICE's Form I-247A asks the Detention Center to hold the person for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
2. Agents can collect the person inside that window.
3. ICE's regional office for this state is in Minnesota, at 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600.
4. After a transfer, try the ICE Online Detainee Locator.
5. SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100) stops cities and counties here from limiting what staff share with federal agents about immigration status.

Misdemeanor terms are spent in county jail. A judge may also keep someone convicted of a Class 5 or 6 felony there for 12 months or less (SDCL 22-6-1.1). Longer felony terms belong to the South Dakota Department of Corrections.

• The DOC offender locator covers felons in state custody only, so jail inmates and probationers are missing from it.
• Our South Dakota prisons listing has each facility's address.
• Court Services oversees probation. Parole falls to Corrections, 3200 East Highway 34, c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

Circuit court does, for any child 10 or older (SDCL 26-8C-2). Police generally hand a minor back to family. Detention needs an intake officer to find one of nine statutory grounds, with the mildest setting that works (SDCL 26-8C-3).

Adult prosecution of a juvenile is possible only after a transfer hearing, at which the judge weighs the offense and the youth's record (SDCL 26-11-4). Youths who are held often leave the county. One option is Beadle's Beadle County Juvenile Detention Center, 455 4th St SW, Suite 100, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8424. Parents can learn the placement from the Sheriff's Office, 605-426-6002.

Marsy's Law, approved by South Dakota voters, put victims' rights in the state constitution (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29). Police hand out a Marsy's Card spelling them out. Upon request, a victim gets:

• word of each hearing in time to attend
• the floor at bond, plea and sentencing hearings
• safety from the accused
• fast notice of an escape or release
• complete restitution

To be told of a release, enroll free with SAVIN or phone 844-299-4608 weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central. Juvenile cases aren't in SAVIN, so a youth's victims should reach the State's Attorney, 509 Bloemedaal Dr, Ipswich, SD 57451, 605-426-6319.