1. Open the official inmate lookup.
2. In the search box, put their surname. Narrow it with a first name if needed.
3. Match the record by full name and age.
4. Note the custody status and the location listed.
5. Not sure it is them? Ring the jail at 605-598-6229 with the person's birth date ready.

For a second check, SAVIN, the free statewide system run through the Attorney General's office, also shows custody and can send alerts when it changes.

An empty result doesn't prove someone has gone home. Look at these possibilities:

• Paperwork first. Prints, a photo and forms must be finished before a record goes live.
• Odd spelling. Drop letters off the surname, or test a nickname or a former last name.
• Already out. They might be home on bond or on a signed promise.
• Arrested elsewhere. A stop across the county line means the jail in that county.
• Federal or immigration custody. Separate locators handle those, as later answers explain.
• Under 18. Minors go through juvenile intake rather than the adult jail.

Jail staff at 605-598-6229 can clear up the mystery at any hour.

Arrests inside county lines lead to the 35-bed jail at 924 Lafoon Avenue, Faulkton, SD 57438, 605-598-6229.

That jail also rents beds to other counties, among them Spink and Potter. So a person from one of those places could be housed in Faulkton, while their case is still heard back in their own county's court.

When the arrest took place beyond county lines, try the jail where it happened. An Aberdeen arrest, for example, goes to the Brown County Jail, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7101.

No. The state lookup online skips mugshots. Booking photos taken in Faulkton come from the Sheriff's Office. Phone 605-598-6229 and ask if a photo can be released and what form the request should take. Reporters go through the same office.

Different agencies, different rules:

• For ICE photos, file a request on the ICE FOIA records page.
• Federal mugshots are normally withheld. Marshals sometimes make one public, for example when they are hunting a fugitive.

Yes. South Dakota's SAVIN system sends free notices whenever the person walks free, moves to another facility or otherwise changes custody status. It runs 24 hours a day.

Staff at 844-299-4608 walk callers through registering, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central. Cases involving juveniles aren't part of SAVIN.

The law leans toward letting people out. Nearly everyone is entitled to bail, and the judge must begin with the gentlest terms, like a signed pledge to return (SDCL 23A-43-2). Cash, supervision or 24/7 sobriety testing are added only when needed.

For many charges the bond comes straight off the state's bail chart, without a judge. Domestic assault and the gravest crimes go to a judge. Across the Fifth Circuit, cash bail can be put toward fines and costs before a refund. For the bond amount, call 605-598-6229. Our bail and bond guide goes deeper on payment, bondspersons and holds.

No. When the charge is domestic assault, or ignoring a protection order, the accused may not get in touch, in any form, with the person they are accused of harming, or with anyone living under that roof, until the first court date. Phone calls, texts and letters are off limits, and so is a friend acting as a go-between (SDCL 25-10-43). A violation counts as a Class 1 misdemeanor.

The judge may then order a longer no-contact period. If asked to carry a message, decline and point the person to their lawyer.

• The jail, 605-598-6229, can read off the booking charges.
• The Clerk of Courts, 110 9th Avenue South, Faulkton, SD 57438, 605-598-6223, has the filed charge and case number. Afternoons only, noon to 5 p.m.
• Find a Court Date shows coming hearings at no cost.
• PARS charges $20 per search for a report of public criminal cases.

What a person is booked on may differ from the final charge. The State's Attorney makes that call, sometimes days later.

The first time they stand before a judge. The judge must mention the right to counsel, and a person without money for a lawyer should ask for one on the spot (SDCL 23A-40-6). The county covers appointed defense (SDCL 23A-40-8).

A repayment order for part or all of that cost can follow (SDCL 23A-40-10). Relatives may hire private counsel instead whenever they like. The Clerk of Courts at 605-598-6223 can name the lawyer assigned.

Call 605-598-6229 before setting out to confirm visiting days, hours and how to sign up.

Check if visits take place face to face or over video. Carry photo ID, wear modest clothes and expect to leave purses and phones outside. A no-contact order can keep some people from visiting at all. General tips are on our visiting page.

Phone 605-598-6229 and ask how deposits are taken at the moment, what fees apply and who the payee is on a money order. Mailing loose bills is never safe.

Funds on the account typically go toward canteen food, toiletries and calls. Deposit options are compared on our inmate money page. The store itself is explained on our commissary page.

In most jails, inmates place outgoing calls on lines that are recorded and monitored. Ask jail staff at 605-598-6229 how families open a calling account and whether any messaging service exists.

Talk about family news, not the case, because recordings may end up in court. After a domestic arrest, no one in the alleged victim's house may be called until the judge first sees the case. Read more on our jail phone page or our inmate email page.

The Sheriff's Office receives mail at PO Box 157, Faulkton, SD 57438-0157. Before you write, phone 605-598-6229 and confirm how a letter to an inmate should be addressed and what may be enclosed.

• Write their complete legal name on the front.
• Sign your name and include where you live for returns.
• Leave out money, stickers, glitter and glued items.
• Expect jail staff to inspect incoming mail.

See our jail mail page for more.

The jail does. At booking, staff take and record clothing, cash, phones and other personal things, then store them until release.

Ring 605-598-6229 to ask about pickup times and whether written permission from the inmate is required. Bring photo ID. Items seized as evidence are a different matter and go back only when the case allows.

The jail, at 605-598-6229. Ask for a supervisor and give the person's name, the health concern, their regular medicines and the prescribing doctor. Jail staff arrange the care.

If you think the problem is serious, also alert the defense lawyer, who can bring it to the judge. For a mental health emergency, say those words clearly when you call.

Deputies are the ones who serve warrants in this county. To ask about one, call 605-598-6229. Statewide, check the DOC Most Wanted page, which names prison escapees, along with the Sex Offender Registry. Pull up the case on UJS ePayments too, since it flags open warrants. Skipping court usually leads to a bench warrant. To settle it, get a lawyer first, then turn in together at the jail or the courthouse. The Clerk of Courts, 110 9th Avenue South, Faulkton, SD 57438, 605-598-6223, can arrange a new court date.

The state's no-cost Find a Court Date page shows what is scheduled for a given name or case. The Clerk of Courts also answers at 605-598-6223 on weekday afternoons.

What each hearing means, and where it takes place, is covered on our court page.

Federal cases from Faulkton and nearby towns go before the Central Division in Pierre, 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600. At that court's first hearing, a judge picks release or detention (18 U.S.C. 3142).

• Until trial, federal prisoners stay in marshals' custody, often in a county jail that rents beds. The Marshals' Pierre office, 225 South Pierre Street, Suite 425, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-224-8396, knows which one.
• Once sentenced, the person appears in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator, searchable by name or register number.

1. ICE starts by sending the jail a detainer, Form I-247A.
2. Jailers may then hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers collect them, sometimes moving them far from home.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It accepts an alien number, or a full name paired with country of birth.
5. Or call ICE's St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600.

Inside the state, ICE's detention list includes the Pennington County Jail, 307 Saint Joseph St, Rapid City, SD 57701, 605-394-6116. Under SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100), local governments can't adopt rules that block sharing immigration status.

Once a judge imposes prison time, the person becomes a Department of Corrections prisoner.

• The DOC offender locator works with a surname or a DOC ID.
• Browse our South Dakota state prison listings.
• DOC central office: 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

Youth arrests follow a separate juvenile track. Children 10 and up are handled in circuit court's juvenile docket (SDCL 26-8C-2). Release to a parent is the usual outcome. Detention requires a reason drawn from a short list in state law (SDCL 26-8C-3).

The Sheriff's Office can say where the teen is being held. Call 605-598-6229. Court Services, 605-626-2275, explains what comes next.

Two agencies make most arrests in the county:

• Sheriff's Office, 924 Lafoon Avenue, Faulkton, SD 57438, 605-598-6229. Deputies cover every corner of the county, including Faulkton, Cresbard, Orient, Seneca and the open country around them. The office handles local dispatch too. In an emergency, dial 911.
• South Dakota Highway Patrol, District One, PO Box 1797, Aberdeen, SD 57402-1797, 605-626-2286. Troopers patrol state and federal highways.

The county has no reservation land and no campus police. Not sure which agency arrested your person? The Sheriff's Office can say.