Five quick moves:

1. Open the official inmate lookup in any browser.
2. Type just the family name. If dozens of rows appear, narrow with the given name.
3. Check the age or birthday column, since two people can share a name.
4. Jot down the facility and any booking or ID number shown.
5. Still stuck? Ring the Sheriff's Office at 605-869-2267, answered 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; at night and on weekends a deputy is reachable on call.

A second free tool is SAVIN, the state's custody tracker. It reports where someone is being held and can alert you to changes.

An empty screen rarely means the person walked free. Think through these:

• Booking still underway. Fingerprints, photos and forms eat up time. Wait a few hours, then look again.
• Spelling. Search under a maiden name, a short form, or each half of a two-part surname.
• Tribal custody. Arrests on the Lower Brule Reservation by Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) officers may sit outside county records. Phone the BIA Lower Brule Agency, 190 Oyate Circle, Lower Brule, SD 57548, 605-550-1932.
• Already released. Bond may be posted, or the judge may have let them out on a promise.
• Moved on. They may have been sent to the DOC or turned over to federal agents.

Deputies at the Sheriff's Office, lower level of 300 S. Main Street, Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2267, can tell which of these fits.

Under SDCL 24-11-3, a county short on jail space may lodge prisoners at another jail through a written contract and pay for each stay. Deputies at 605-869-2267 know exactly where each arrest went. Places to ask about:

• Hughes County Jail, 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475. Hughes County operates it, and federal prisoners for the U.S. Marshals stay there too.
• Winner City Jail, 217 E. 3rd Street, Winner, SD 57580, 605-842-3328. Owned by the City of Winner, it has 156 beds and takes contract prisoners from several counties.
• Lower Brule Reservation arrests. When BIA officers made the arrest, the BIA Lower Brule Agency, 190 Oyate Circle, Lower Brule, SD 57548, 605-550-1932, knows which facility took them.

Mugshots are missing from the state lookup. Each jail keeps the pictures from its own bookings. To find out which jail booked them, call the Sheriff's Office at 605-869-2267, then put the request to that jail. Reporters generally ask the Sheriff's Office as well.

• Photos snapped by immigration agents can be sought with the ICE records request form.
• Federal mugshots are mostly withheld, though one can surface on a U.S. Marshals wanted poster during a manhunt.

Yes. SAVIN is free and comes from the state Attorney General. Beyond victim notices, it tracks custody, meaning if someone is jailed and the place. Register once, and it notifies you around the clock when that status changes, for instance on release.

• Find the person by name and choose a contact method.
• Help line: 844-299-4608, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central.
• Cases involving juveniles are left out.

South Dakota starts every release decision with the person's own promise to come back (SDCL 23A-43-2). Cash bond or extra conditions come in only when a judge doubts that promise. Clerks in this circuit set many amounts from a schedule; a first DUI, for one, lands between $225 and $1,000. A judge personally decides bond on murder, kidnapping and domestic abuse charges.

• Once a domestic abuse arrest happens, the person held must stay out of touch with the alleged victim's whole household until the first hearing in Kennebec, relayed messages included (SDCL 25-10-43). Please don't carry notes.
• Twice-a-day 24/7 breath testing can be written into the bond.
• Payment rules depend on which jail is holding them.

Amounts, payment spots and refunds are spelled out in our bond and release guide.

Jail staff will read the charge over the phone. For the court's version, try:

• Find a Court Date, free, for coming hearings by name or case number.
• UJS eCourts, free, for docket entries in open records.
• PARS, $20 a search, for a criminal case summary.

The Clerk of Courts, 300 S. Maine St., Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2277, can help as well. Fresh filings sometimes need a business day or more before they appear.

The judge does, at the first appearance, if the person asks and can't pay for one (SDCL 23A-40-6). Lyman County covers the cost (SDCL 23A-40-8), though a judge can later order some repayment.

Form UJS-224R is the request. Get it from the UJS legal help page or the Clerk of Courts, 300 S. Maine St., Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2277. Relatives may also pay a private attorney at any point.

Visit rules belong to whichever jail has the person:

• Hughes County Jail, 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475. Its county page offers remote video visits from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily, scheduled in advance online. In the building, visits are non-contact and capped at one a day.
• Winner City Jail, 217 E. 3rd Street, Winner, SD 57580, 605-842-3328. Staff can explain the schedule and any video choice.

Carry photo ID. General tips sit on our visitation page.

Money is sent to whichever jail is holding them. The Hughes County page for its jail, Hughes County Jail, 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475, names three routes:

1. By mail: up to $500 by postal money order or cashier's check, sent to that street address with the inmate's full name.
2. Online, by Visa, MasterCard or Discover, through the deposit site the jail links.
3. At the kiosk in the jail lobby, paying in bills or by card. Each such deposit carries a $3 fee and can't be reversed.

At the Winner City Jail, 217 E. 3rd Street, Winner, SD 57580, staff at 605-842-3328 explain the steps. For background, see our deposits page and our commissary page.

Every jail signs its own phone contract and sets its own rules.

• The Hughes County Jail, 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, routes calls and texting through one provider, whose support desk is 800-896-3201. A voicemail box for inmates answers at 605-223-5244.
• The Winner City Jail, 217 E. 3rd Street, Winner, SD 57580, can describe its setup at 605-842-3328.

Assume someone is listening, and keep the case out of every conversation. More on our phone page and messaging page.

Mail rules differ by jail. At the Hughes County Jail, a new system began July 1, 2026:

• Everyday letters: Inmate (full name), 1533 S 42nd St Suite 200, Grand Forks, ND 58201. That North Dakota address is a mail-processing center working for the jail.
• Legal papers and money orders, nothing else: Hughes County Jail, Inmate (full name), 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501. Other items mailed there get returned.

Writing to the Winner City Jail, 217 E. 3rd Street, Winner, SD 57580? Get the correct format from 605-842-3328. Bills sent through the post can vanish, so skip cash. See our mail page too.

Booking staff bag and log everything the person carried. Most of it is handed back at release. To collect items before release, expect to need a written note from the person that names you.

• Hughes County Jail, 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475
• Winner City Jail, 217 E. 3rd Street, Winner, SD 57580, 605-842-3328

Phone ahead and bring ID. Not sure which jail has the bag? The Sheriff's Office, lower level of 300 S. Main Street, Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2267, can tell you.

The jail does. South Dakota law addresses medical treatment and insurance for prisoners (SDCL 24-11-21). On its page, the Hughes County Jail lists a registered nurse on call at all hours, a doctor's clinic once a week or more, and 24 hours of weekly mental health care with backup on call.

• Share a health worry with the jail that has them: Hughes County Jail, 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475, or Winner City Jail, 217 E. 3rd Street, Winner, SD 57580, 605-842-3328.
• Have the drug name, the strength and the prescriber ready.
• Medical staff usually need the patient's signed permission before discussing details.

Warrants here, bench and arrest alike, are carried out by sheriff's deputies. Call the Sheriff's Office, lower level of 300 S. Main Street, Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2267, for a check by name. Statewide, the DOC Most Wanted list lists people who fled state custody, and anyone may search the Sex Offender Registry. A case pulled up on UJS ePayments flags an active warrant. Staff at the Clerk of Courts, 300 S. Maine St., Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2277, can search too. To resolve one, a defense lawyer arranges a surrender to the issuing court.

Find a Court Date searches upcoming hearings free of charge using a name or case number, and it builds the county's calendar for the days ahead. The Clerk of Courts, 300 S. Maine St., Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2277, confirms dates on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Skipping court is itself a crime here (SDCL 23A-43-31), so remind the person of every date. Our criminal court page walks through every hearing in order.

Federal court for this area meets in the federal building at 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600. Under the Major Crimes Act (18 U.S.C. 1153), grave crimes on the Lower Brule Reservation are often tried there.

• Detention or release is settled at the opening federal hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until trial, the U.S. Marshals hold responsibility for them. Ask the Marshals' Pierre office, 225 South Pierre Street, Suite 425, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-224-8396, where the person is housed.
• One common answer is the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E. Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475, which rents beds to the Marshals.
• Post-sentence, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

1. Immigration officers file Form I-247A, a hold request, at the jail.
2. Staff there may then keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Agents of ICE's St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600, take over. That office covers South Dakota and four other states.
4. The ICE Online Detainee Locator accepts a name and birth country, or an alien registration number.

Among South Dakota sites, ICE lists the Pennington County Jail, 307 Saint Joseph St, Rapid City, SD 57701, 605-394-6116, as a detention facility. A 2025 law, SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100), blocks local policies that would limit what counties and cities tell federal officials about immigration status.

A felony sentence to prison moves them into the care of the South Dakota Department of Corrections. The DOC then picks the prison where each one stays.

• Current state prisoners turn up on the DOC Offender Locator, searched by surname or DOC number. Jail inmates and people on probation won't appear there, only those with a prison sentence.
• DOC headquarters: 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.
• Our South Dakota state prisons guide describes every prison in turn.

Usually a parent or guardian picks the child up. Holding a youth is allowed only on grounds the law lists, and must use the mildest option that still works (SDCL 26-8C-3). When holding a child is truly needed, the placement is a youth detention center.

Circuit court handles youth cases in a juvenile branch, starting at age 10 (SDCL 26-8C-2). To find a child, call the Sheriff's Office at 605-869-2267. Youth probation is run by Court Services, 104 E. Capitol Ave., Suite 3, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3874.

Some of the Lower Brule Reservation sits inside the county lines. The tribe governs itself and runs its own court. On that land, officers of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) do the policing. They drive marked patrols, look into crimes, and enforce tribal and federal law.

• A tribal member arrested by BIA officers usually goes before tribal court.
• Major crimes on the reservation go to federal court in Pierre.
• State charges go to the county court in Kennebec.

Contacts: BIA Lower Brule Agency, 190 Oyate Circle, Lower Brule, SD 57548, 605-550-1932, open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, 187 Oyate Circle, Lower Brule, SD 57548, 605-473-5561.

A short list of agencies covers the whole county:

• Sheriff's Office, lower level of 300 S. Main Street, Kennebec, SD 57544, 605-869-2267. Deputies answer calls in the towns and the open country alike, from Kennebec and Presho to Reliance and Vivian. Office hours run 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, and at other times a deputy can still be reached.
• BIA Office of Justice Services, the police on the Lower Brule Reservation. Local contact: BIA Lower Brule Agency, 190 Oyate Circle, Lower Brule, SD 57548, 605-550-1932. Its district office is at 115 4th Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-226-7347.
• Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, 187 Oyate Circle, Lower Brule, SD 57548, 605-473-5561. Its court hears most cases against tribal members from the reservation.
• South Dakota Highway Patrol troopers cover the highways. If a trooper made the stop, ask the Sheriff's Office where the trooper booked the person.