South Dakota runs a single Unified Judicial System. Gregory sits in its Sixth Circuit, alongside Tripp, Lyman and others. Two trial courts share the courthouse:

• Magistrate court owns misdemeanors and ordinance cases (SDCL 16-12B-11). Its judges also issue warrants (SDCL 16-12B-5), fix bond (SDCL 16-12B-7) and hold first appearances (SDCL 16-12B-10). Any offense capped at one year and $2,000 can be pleaded out and sentenced right there (SDCL 16-12B-8).
• Circuit court owns felonies and youth cases. A felony opens on the magistrate side, then is bound over to circuit court.

Charges brought by U.S. prosecutors bypass both and are filed in Pierre. Charges against tribal members on tribal land may belong to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe's court.

The circuit and magistrate courtrooms are at 221 E. 8th St., Burke, SD 57523. Phone the Clerk of Courts at 605-775-2665 between 7:30 a.m. and noon or 12:30 and 4:00 p.m., Monday to Friday. Mail goes to PO Box 430, Burke, SD 57523. The Sheriff's Office shares the address.

A case may also brush against these courts:

• Sixth Circuit Drug & DUI Court, a supervised treatment track that takes referrals: 8 E. Second Ave., Fort Pierre, SD 57532, 605-220-3850.
• Rosebud Sioux Tribe Courthouse: 118 Marshall St., Rosebud, SD 57570, 605-747-2278.
• Federal court, Central Division: 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600.

The magistrate judge does, at the county courthouse. State law gives magistrate court the power to decide ordinance violations (SDCL 16-12B-11), so a town ticket lands at 221 E. 8th St., Burke, SD 57523.

Call the Clerk of Courts, 605-775-2665, for the court date and the amount due. Fines can be charged to a card online through UJS ePayments. Online payments start at $25, or the full balance if smaller. New cases can take two weeks to appear.

Arresting officers owe the court a prompt delivery, "without unnecessary delay," to whichever committing magistrate is closest. ITV video counts (SDCL 23A-4-1). No set number of hours appears in that law. The Clerk or the jail can say when the hearing is booked.

Nobody enters a plea at this stage. Instead, the magistrate goes over (SDCL 23A-4-3):

1. the charge, read in plain terms;
2. that they may hire counsel, or ask for one to be appointed;
3. bond and any release terms;
4. the right to say nothing;
5. on felonies, a preliminary hearing.

Sixth Circuit magistrates complete a written bond findings form. It records whether a signed promise is enough to bring the person back and whether anyone would be put at risk.

Nearly all of them start and finish in magistrate court. The penalty ceilings (SDCL 22-6-2):

• Class 1: a year in a county jail, $2,000, or both. First and second DUIs and simple assault sit here.
• Class 2: 30 days, $500, or both.

Expect this order: first appearance, then arraignment and a plea, then a sentence or a trial setting. DUI defendants are often put on the 24/7 Sobriety Program (SDCL 1-11-20), blowing into a breath tester morning and night or wearing an alcohol bracelet. The state caps each breath test at $3.

Domestic assault brings a no-contact rule right away (SDCL 25-10-43). Until the first hearing, the alleged victim's household is off limits, and so is sending word through a pal. Many small offenses have a fixed total in the state fine schedule; disorderly conduct, for one, is $132.50.

1. Complaint and first appearance, with bond decided by the magistrate.
2. Preliminary hearing to test the proof. Jailed defendants get one within 15 days of that first appearance; those out on bond within 45 (SDCL 23A-4-3). Either may waive it.
3. The formal charge. Usually it takes the form of an information, a paper filed by the State's Attorney. Grand juries, 6 to 10 people, meet only on a circuit judge's call (SDCL 23A-5-1); their indictment means no preliminary hearing.
4. Arraignment, when the circuit judge hears the plea.
5. Trial or plea bargain. A trial should begin no later than day 180, starting the count at that first hearing (SDCL 23A-44-5.1). Time lost to defense requests doesn't count.
6. Sentencing.

Prison maximums run from 50 years for Class 1 down to two years for Class 6, which also carries up to $4,000 (SDCL 22-6-1). In between: Class 2, 25 years; Class 3, 15; Class 4, 10; Class 5, five. A Class 5 or 6 conviction starts from probation unless the judge finds a serious public danger (SDCL 22-6-11). For those two classes a judge may instead impose county jail time, a year at most (SDCL 22-6-1.1).

Yes. Several things change.

• Penalties. Life in prison tops Classes B and C, and Class A adds the death penalty (SDCL 22-6-1).
• Bond. Only a judge sets terms for murder, for kidnapping and for first-degree manslaughter. In a capital case with plain, strong proof, bail may be denied (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8).
• Jury strikes. Each side may drop some jurors with no reason. It gets 20 when the top count is Class A, B, C or 1 (SDCL 23A-20-20). Other felony trials allow 10, and misdemeanors 3.
• Indian country. Major crimes such as murder or robbery by a tribal member on reservation land are federal (18 U.S.C. 1153).
• Victims. Under Marsy's Law, victims may be heard at bail, plea and sentencing hearings (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29).

The State's Attorney brings state charges in this county. Write to PO Box 437, Burke, SD 57523, or call 605-775-2066.

A defendant without money for a lawyer should say so to the magistrate at the first appearance (SDCL 23A-40-6). Key points:

• Payment comes from the county bringing the case (SDCL 23A-40-8). It may use a defender office, private lawyers picked by the court or contract lawyers (SDCL 23A-40-7). Ask the Clerk of Courts at 605-775-2665 which one handles local cases.
• A judge can order the person to pay those costs back regardless of the verdict (SDCL 23A-40-10). A lien may be filed, yet the family home is shielded from foreclosure (SDCL 23A-40-15).
• The exception is a minor charge, like a Class 2 misdemeanor, where the person is free and no jail term is possible (SDCL 23A-40-6.1).
• Appeals are handled by the state Office of Indigent Legal Services.

• The free Find a Court Date tool from the courts looks up a name or case number. It also prints the county's calendar for the next few work days.
• UJS eCourts shows the docket of each public case free.
• PARS: case summaries from 1989 on, $20 per search whether or not a match comes back.
• The courthouse in Burke has a public terminal that lists case records.
• Cases before 1989 and full files: the Clerk of Courts, 605-775-2665.

Warrants here are served by deputies of the Sheriff's Office, 221 E. 8th St., Burke, SD 57523, 605-775-2626. Phone the office for a check. A case number typed into UJS ePayments will show an active warrant. State-run pages include the DOC Most Wanted page, for walkaways, and the Sex Offender Registry. A bench warrant is cleared by having a lawyer ask the Clerk of Courts, 605-775-2665, for a new date, or by surrendering, lawyer in tow, to the court that signed it.

The case moves to the Central Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. Reach that clerk at 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600.

• Federal prosecutors have a Pierre branch: PO Box 7240, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-224-5402.
• At the opening hearing, the judge decides on detention (18 U.S.C. 3142). A defense delay can run five days and a government one three, during which the accused stays jailed.
• The U.S. Marshals keep the accused until trial. Their Pierre address is 225 South Pierre Street, Suite 425, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-224-8396.
• A sentence goes to the Bureau of Prisons; the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where.

Not the case itself. The charge in Burke goes on, but a detainer decides where the person goes when state custody ends.

1. ICE lodges Form I-247A, the detainer.
2. That paper requests a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. The ICE St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600, handles the pickup.
4. One South Dakota jail on ICE's own list is the Pennington County Jail, 307 Saint Joseph St, Rapid City, SD 57701, 605-394-6116.
5. Look for the person on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

If the person is not a citizen, get immigration advice before any guilty plea. Last, SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100) wipes out any county or city rule that would keep staff quiet with federal agents about a person's status.

Misdemeanor time means a county jail. Felony prison sentences go to the South Dakota Department of Corrections, whose central office is 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

• People serving state prison terms show up on the DOC offender locator.
• Prison addresses: our South Dakota prison list.
• Probation for this county runs out of Court Services, 104 E. Capitol Ave., Suite 3, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3874. Parole is a state corrections matter.

Youth cases from age 10 belong to circuit court (SDCL 26-8C-2). Typically police hand a child back to family. Detention happens only when an intake officer points to a listed ground, and it must be the mildest workable choice (SDCL 26-8C-3).

• To move to adult court, a case needs a transfer hearing and a ruling from the circuit judge (SDCL 26-11-4).
• Court Services, 104 E. Capitol Ave., Suite 3, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3874, supervises juvenile probation.
• The Sheriff's Office, 605-775-2626, can tell you where a youth is held. If tribal police made the arrest, try the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Juvenile Detention Center, 26628 US Highway 18, Mission, SD 57555, 605-856-8701.

Marsy's Law came from Amendment S, which 60 percent of voters approved (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29). It lets a victim ask for:

• advance word of every court date, with a right to be in the room;
• a voice at hearings on release, plea bargains and sentencing;
• restitution, fully and promptly;
• protection from the accused, plus prompt word of any release or escape.

Register for free alerts with SAVIN, or phone 844-299-4608 during weekday hours. Case questions go to the State's Attorney at 605-775-2066.