The official lookup is a statewide custody search, so it reaches past this one jail. Here are the steps:

1. Open the inmate lookup in any web browser.
2. Type the surname and then the given name. Skip middle names for now.
3. Look over each match for the custody status and the facility name.
4. If several people share the name, compare age or birth date with jail staff.
5. Write down any number shown for the person. It helps staff, and it helps with deposits.

Still unsure? Call the jail at 605-773-7475 and ask for booking.

An empty result often has an easy explanation:

• Still being booked. Fingerprinting and paperwork can take a while.
• Release already happened. The bond was paid, or a judge set them free.
• Transfer. They may be in another county, in state prison or under a federal hold.
• Spelling. Search other spellings, a nickname or a former last name.
• Age. Anyone under 18 who is held stays at the county's youth center, not the adult jail.

The jail can settle the question fast at 605-773-7475. For records questions during office hours, try the Sheriff's Office at 605-773-7470.

There is one adult jail here, at 3100 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475. Adults arrested in the county are booked there. Some beds go to federal prisoners in U.S. Marshals Service custody. Youth go to the county's Juvenile Service Center instead, 605-773-2290.

If the arrest happened just outside the county, check these too:

• Across the river in Stanley County, which includes Fort Pierre: Stanley County Jail page. Ask the Stanley County Sheriff, 8 East 2nd Avenue, Fort Pierre, SD 57532, 605-223-7792, where their arrests are held.
• To the north in Sully County: Sully County Jail page. The Sully County Sheriff takes mail at PO Box 189, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244.
• On the Crow Creek Reservation: a tribal member picked up by tribal police usually faces tribal court. Major crimes there go to federal court, and county arrests still come to the county jail. Ask the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, 100 Drifting Goose Street, Fort Thompson, SD 57339, 605-245-2221, where a tribal arrest is held.

The official lookup is made for tracking custody and sending alerts, so it shows no mugshots at all. Ask the Sheriff's Office at 605-773-7470 how booking photo requests are handled. Reporters go through the same office.

• Photos from federal bookings seldom go public. Now and then the Marshals Service shares one while hunting a fugitive.
• For pictures ICE itself took, go to the ICE records request page.

Yes. SAVIN is South Dakota's free notice service, run through the Attorney General's office. It shares offender details and reports changes such as a release, any hour of the day. Register online, or phone 844-299-4608 Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central.

• Signing up takes a few minutes, and alerts start only after you register.
• SAVIN skips juvenile cases.
• For hearing reminders, sign up for UJS court notifications.

South Dakota keeps money bail. Even so, a judge must first consider the mildest option, a signed promise called a PR bond, and only add more if needed (SDCL 23A-43-2, 23A-43-3). Many bonds come straight from the circuit's fine and bond schedule. A judge must set terms first in murder, kidnapping and domestic abuse cases.

• Bonds are posted at the jail by anyone 18 or older who shows ID.
• The jail accepts cash, a bail bond company, or a postal money order or cashier's check payable to "Hughes County Jail."
• For a card payment, the jail points to CourtMoney.
• Following a domestic arrest, the person can't reach out to the alleged victim or that home until the first hearing, even through you (SDCL 25-10-43). Please don't pass messages.

Our bail and release page covers amounts, refunds and bondspersons.

Phone the jail at 605-773-7475 to hear the booking charge. The charge that counts in court is the one the State's Attorney files, and it may differ.

• Find a Court Date lists upcoming hearings by name or case number, free.
• UJS eCourts shows docket entries on public cases.
• PARS gives a criminal case summary for $20 per search.

You'll find the prosecutor's office on the courthouse's first floor, 104 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7462.

At the first court appearance, the judge explains the right to counsel. A person who can't afford one asks right then. In this county, the court appoints a private lawyer and the county pays (SDCL 23A-40-7, 23A-40-8). The request goes on the UJS-224R form.

The court may later tell the person to pay the county back (SDCL 23A-40-10). The Clerk of Courts at 605-773-3713 can answer questions about the form or the lawyer chosen.

The jail offers two kinds of visits:

• Video visits from home run from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. every day on a computer, phone or tablet. They are booked online through the jail's phone and video provider.
• On-site visits are non-contact, with one visit allowed per day.

Call 605-773-7475 for the on-site schedule, the length of each visit and what ID to bring. Our visiting guide covers sign-up steps and conduct rules.

There are three ways to add funds:

1. By mail. Only U.S. postal money orders or cashier's checks, up to $500 each. Send them to the jail's street address shown under mail, with the person's full name. They are posted when they arrive.
2. Online. The jail's page links a deposit website. Pick this jail, search the inmate's name and pay by Visa, MasterCard or Discover.
3. Lobby kiosk. Cash or card, searched by last name or ID number, with a $3.00 fee. Kiosk payments are final and can't be refunded.

Commissary runs twice a week. Orders placed by Sunday night arrive Tuesday, and orders by Wednesday night arrive Friday. Holidays can shift this. Families can also order care packages online. Our commissary guide and money guide explain more.

Phones and texting at the jail run through its contracted provider. That company's support line is 800-896-3201, for setting up an account or fixing a problem.

You can also leave a voicemail for the person on the jail's inmate voicemail line, 605-223-5244. Leave the case itself to the lawyer to discuss. Calls get their own tips in our phone guide, and texts get theirs in our messaging guide.

Since July 1, 2026, the jail splits mail two ways. Personal letters and cards go to a mail processing center in North Dakota:

Inmate (full name)
1533 S 42nd St, Suite 200, Grand Forks, ND 58201

Only legal mail and money orders should be sent to the jail itself. Anything else sent there goes back to the sender:

Hughes County Jail
Inmate (full name)
3100 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501

Use the person's full legal name. Don't mail cash. Our mail guide lists common rules on photos and books.

Belongings from booking stay in storage until release. If you need to pick it up for them, phone 605-773-7475 first. Ask whether paperwork from the person is needed, and when staff hand out property. Bring photo ID to 3100 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501.

Money left on the jail account is handled at release, too. Ask how it is paid out before the person leaves.

A registered nurse is on call at all hours. A doctor holds clinics at the jail at least once a week. Mental health counseling is offered 24 hours a week, with on-call help when needed.

Does your loved one need medicine or have a health problem? Call 605-773-7475. Tell staff the drug name, dose and prescribing doctor. The jail does not tolerate sexual abuse at all, and sex between staff and inmates is a felony (SDCL 22-22-7.6). In an emergency, call 911.

Deputies and Pierre police serve warrants in this county. The Sheriff's Office takes warrant questions at 605-773-7470. Two state lists help too: the Sex Offender Registry and a Most Wanted list of escapees kept by corrections. A case search on UJS ePayments flags any live warrant. To clear one safely, get a lawyer's advice first. The lawyer can help set up a surrender, or can ask the warrant's judge to set a fresh hearing date. You can find the Clerk of Courts at 104 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3713.

Find a Court Date is free and searches by name or case number. You can also print a county calendar for the next several business days.

Every local criminal case is heard at the courthouse, 104 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501. The Clerk of Courts is open weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., at 605-773-3713. Our court guide covers each hearing in order.

Federal charges here go to the U.S. District Court's Central Division, 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600.

1. A judge decides detention or release at the first federal hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Until trial, U.S. Marshals hold custody, working from Suite 425 in that same building, 605-224-8396. People in Marshals custody can be housed at the county jail.
3. After a prison sentence, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

1. To ask the jail for a hold, ICE uses a detainer called Form I-247A.
2. If the jail honors it, the person may stay up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers then take the person. The St. Paul Field Office covers this state: 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600. ICE also detains people in this state at the Pennington County Jail, 307 Saint Joseph Street, Rapid City, SD 57701, 605-394-6116.
4. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator. It accepts the A-number. No A-number? Then the name and birth country work instead.

SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100) is a state law from 2025. Under it, local governments here can't stop their staff from giving federal officials a person's immigration status.

Once a judge gives a felony prison sentence, custody passes to the South Dakota Department of Corrections.

• The DOC Offender Locator works with either a name or a DOC number.
• Background on the Pierre women's prison and every other state site sits on our South Dakota state prisons page.

Youths go to the county's Juvenile Service Center, not the adult jail. There are eight secure beds and eight non-secure ones. Call 605-773-2290 for its location.

• Visits: parents or legal guardians only, with Department of Social Services approval. Contact visits run 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday for last names A to G, Wednesday for H to O and Thursday for P to Z. Weekends allow one visit a day, first come, first served, at 7:30 to 11:00 a.m., 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. or 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Visits last half an hour and staff watch them.
• Calls: youths use a texting device, and phone cards come through the jail's phone provider.
• Money: cash, a money order or an online deposit under "Juvenile Services." Call the center afterward to confirm it arrived.
• School runs on weekdays from 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The booking record names the agency that made the arrest. Here are the ones active locally:

• Hughes County Sheriff's Office, 3200 East Highway 34, Suite 9, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7470. Deputies cover Blunt, Harrold and the rural county.
• Pierre Police Department, 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501. Routine calls, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.: 605-773-7413. Dispatch for the city and county, all hours: 605-773-7410. Crime tips: 605-773-7420.
• South Dakota Highway Patrol, Pierre office, 118 West Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3105. The area is part of District One, PO Box 1797, Aberdeen, SD 57402-1797, 605-626-2286.
• Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, 100 Drifting Goose Street, Fort Thompson, SD 57339, 605-245-2221. Call to reach tribal law enforcement for arrests on the reservation.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs, Crow Creek Agency, 100 Samboy Drive, Fort Thompson, SD 57339, 605-245-2311. Regional BIA justice services: 115 4th Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-226-7347.