Both start in the Flandreau courthouse. The state's courts form one Unified Judicial System cut into seven circuits, and Moody is a Third Circuit county. Here the circuit court and the magistrate court share a single clerk's office.

• Magistrate court carries misdemeanors all the way through, most first and second DUIs among them, and city ordinance cases too (SDCL 16-12B-11). Magistrates may issue arrest warrants, decide bond and conduct first appearances as well (SDCL 16-12B-5, 16-12B-7, 16-12B-10). Any charge capped at one year behind bars or $2,000 can be resolved by a guilty plea and sentence in magistrate court (SDCL 16-12B-8).
• Circuit court receives felonies once the magistrate stage ends. Juvenile cases and challenges to a magistrate's bond decision go there as well.

In short, a Moody felony opens with a magistrate and moves up to a circuit judge for plea, trial and sentence.

State court business for Moody runs through two offices:

• Clerk of Courts for both levels: 101 East Pipestone Avenue, Flandreau, SD 57028, 605-997-3181. Hours run 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. Postal mail goes to PO Box 226, Flandreau, SD 57028.
• Court Services (probation): 200 East Center Street, Madison, SD 57042, 605-256-5645. Its officers supervise probation for Moody residents.

There is no other state court building for Moody, and the county has no drug or DUI court of its own. Ask the state's Division of Treatment Courts, 605-773-4161, about those programs in nearby Third Circuit counties. Ask the defense lawyer about a referral.

No. None of Moody's towns has a city court. Ordinance tickets from the county seat, Colman, Egan, Trent or Ward land in magistrate court at the county courthouse, 101 East Pipestone Avenue, Flandreau, SD 57028, 605-997-3181. The same magistrate hears those town cases alongside state misdemeanors (SDCL 16-12B-11).

The Santee Sioux tribe has a separate court, explained in the tribal court answer near the end.

South Dakota law calls for a prompt trip to the nearest available magistrate after an arrest. In Moody's case that is often a video screen, because the person sits in a host jail one or more counties away (SDCL 23A-4-1).

No plea is entered yet. Five topics come up:

• the charge on file,
• hiring a lawyer, or asking for one the county pays,
• the person's choice to say nothing,
• the release terms, and
• on a felony, a coming preliminary hearing (SDCL 23A-4-3).

Two Third Circuit clocks also run. A person held with no bond must have probable cause approved by a judge within 48 hours, or the host jail has to free them. And when officers made the arrest without a warrant, prosecutors have two business days to file a complaint. Miss that window, and the person must be discharged and their bond exonerated.

The magistrate judge in Flandreau sees plenty of DUI, simple assault, petty theft and disorderly conduct cases. A typical path:

1. First appearance, where release terms are set. On a DUI, that often means 24/7 alcohol testing.
2. A second hearing for the plea.
3. Negotiation between the State's Attorney and defense counsel, which resolves many Moody cases without trial.
4. Trial before the magistrate or a jury when no deal is reached.
5. Sentencing: host-jail time, a fine, probation, treatment, or a mix.

Maximum penalties (SDCL 22-6-2):

• Class 1 misdemeanor, like most first and second DUIs or simple assault: a year in county jail, $2,000, or both.
• Class 2 misdemeanor, like disorderly conduct: 30 days, $500, or both.

For some tickets, the person can simply pay the fixed total listed in the state chart, for example $132.50 for disorderly conduct. Fines and costs are payable by card through UJS ePayments.

1. Initial appearance in magistrate court, with a bond decision.
2. Preliminary hearing to test the State's evidence. Jailed defendants get it within 15 days and free ones within 45, unless they waive it or a grand jury indicts first (SDCL 23A-4-3).
3. Formal charge. In Moody that is usually an information, a charging paper the prosecutor signs. A grand jury of six to ten citizens gathers only on a circuit judge's call (SDCL 23A-5-1).
4. Arraignment, the circuit court hearing where guilty or not guilty is entered.
5. Motions, bargaining and trial. South Dakota's 180-day rule starts counting at the first appearance on the charge, and defense-requested delays don't count against it (SDCL 23A-44-5.1).
6. Sentencing.

Penalties climb by class (SDCL 22-6-1). The lowest, Class 6, can mean two years and a $4,000 fine. A Class 5 conviction allows five years, and Class 4 allows ten. Classes 5 and 6 come with presumed probation (SDCL 22-6-11). For those two, up to twelve months in a host jail can replace prison (SDCL 22-6-1.1).

Yes, starting with bond. Murder, kidnapping and first-degree manslaughter are off limits for a clerk's bond. A judge must handle them. In a domestic assault, only a judge sets bond and terms (SDCL 25-10-40). Until the first hearing, reaching the alleged victim or that household is forbidden to the accused, whether by call, text or go-between (SDCL 25-10-43).

The sentence ceiling rises sharply. Class 2 felonies reach 25 years, Class 1 reaches 50, and Classes A, B and C carry life (SDCL 22-6-1). Every Third Circuit felony arrest needs a judge to set bond by phone. For a capital charge with very strong evidence, bail may be refused outright (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8).

Victims can be heard at bail, plea and sentencing (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29).

Prosecution: the State's Attorney's Office, 310 S Wind, Flandreau, SD 57028, 605-997-2207 (mail to PO Box 347, Flandreau, SD 57028). It prosecutes both adult and juvenile crimes committed in the county.

Defense for people who can't afford it: Moody has no public defender's office. The county keeps contracts with private law firms, and a judge assigns one when a defendant asks and qualifies (SDCL 23A-40-6, 23A-40-7). Moody pays that lawyer (SDCL 23A-40-8). Later, a repayment order to Moody is possible, even when the jury acquits (SDCL 23A-40-10). A lien can attach to property, but it can never force the sale of a homestead (SDCL 23A-40-15).

Free defendants facing only a petty or Class 2 charge, where jail is ruled out, don't receive appointed counsel (SDCL 23A-40-6.1). The Clerk of Courts at 605-997-3181 can explain how to apply.

• Find a Court Date at ujsfindcourtdate.sd.gov costs nothing. Enter a party name or case number for future dates, or pull Moody's calendar for today plus nine business days.
• PARS, the Public Access Record Search, sells case summaries at $20 apiece. You pay that $20 whether or not a record shows up.
• eCourts at ecourts.sd.gov lists docket entries in public cases. For the documents themselves, ask the clerk.
• The Clerk of Courts answers at 605-997-3181, and the courthouse has a public records terminal.

For a case filed before 1989, ask the clerk of the county where it was filed.

Moody deputies serve warrants everywhere in the county from 108 E. Pipestone Ave., Suite A, Flandreau, SD 57028, 605-997-2423. City police assist inside the city limits, 605-997-3830. Phone the Sheriff or the police to ask whether a warrant exists. Statewide links: the DOC Most Wanted page, which lists people on escape or walkaway status, and the Sex Offender Registry. UJS ePayments also displays a warning when a case carries a live warrant. Talk the warrant over with defense counsel, then report to the issuing court in person, or ring it to reschedule. In Moody, contact the Clerk of Courts, 101 East Pipestone Avenue, Flandreau, SD 57028, 605-997-3181.

Federal cases from Moody belong to the Southern Division in Sioux Falls: U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, United States Courthouse, 400 S. Phillips Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-330-6600. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Sioux Falls, 605-330-4400, bring the charges. Under the Major Crimes Act, a tribal member accused of murder, felony assault, burglary or another listed crime on tribal land is tried in federal court (18 U.S.C. 1153).

Release or detention gets decided as soon as the person first faces the federal judge. The defense may win up to a five-day pause, and the government up to three (18 U.S.C. 3142). People kept in custody are the Marshals' charge, at 400 South Phillips Avenue, Room 216, Sioux Falls, SD 57104, 605-330-4351, often in a county jail such as Minnehaha's. Once a federal sentence begins, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Not the case itself. The Moody case goes on, but walking out of jail may not mean going home:

1. ICE lodges Form I-247A at the host jail.
2. Through that form, ICE requests that the jail hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE can then pick the person up and move them. In South Dakota, the Pennington County Jail, 307 Saint Joseph St, Rapid City, SD 57701, 605-394-6116, is on ICE's detention list.
4. Follow them with the ICE Online Detainee Locator.
5. Questions go to the ICE field office at 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600, which covers this state.

Before any plea, a noncitizen should raise immigration with the defense lawyer. A conviction can change their status. Last, under SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100), no South Dakota city or county may restrict officials from sharing immigration status with federal authorities.

Jail sentences on misdemeanors are served at a county jail, and for Moody that means one of the host jails. Felony prison terms go to the South Dakota Department of Corrections (SDCL 22-6-1). The DOC sizes up each newcomer before choosing a prison.

Moody families can check the DOC Offender Locator, which accepts a name or a DOC number. It shows only people sentenced to the DOC. Host jail inmates and probationers aren't in it. DOC's central office: 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478. Parole matters go to the Board of Pardons and Paroles, 605-367-5040. Each prison is listed on our South Dakota prisons page.

Delinquency cases for kids aged 10 and older go to circuit court in Flandreau (SDCL 26-8C-2). The State's Attorney files the petition. In most cases the child is released to a parent. Keeping a child in a cell requires one of the grounds set out in SDCL 26-8C-3, and an intake officer must first decide that lighter steps would fall short. This circuit relies on a risk screening when making that call.

When detention is ordered, a Moody youth rides south to locked youth housing at Minnehaha County Regional Juvenile Detention Center, 4200 S. West Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57105, 605-367-4313. Moving a youth's case to adult court is a judge's decision, made at a transfer hearing (SDCL 26-11-4).

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe runs its own courts, with power over all lands inside the tribe's borders. They sit at 1314 S. Veterans Street, Flandreau, SD 57028, 605-997-3593, Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The tribe has a trial-level court and an appeals court.

A tribal member picked up by tribal officers on tribal land will usually face tribal court. The most serious crimes there go federal. People arrested by deputies or city officers face the county courthouse instead. For tribal bond rules, phone the tribal court.

Marsy's Law, adopted by South Dakota voters, protects victims in Moody cases. A victim may ask for notice of hearings and attend them. Victims also have a voice at any hearing on release, a plea deal or punishment. Full restitution and protection from the accused are rights too (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29). Law enforcement hands each victim a Marsy's Card.

Registering with SAVIN, a free state service, brings an alert when the person is released. Its help line, 844-299-4608, is staffed on weekdays. Juvenile cases are outside SAVIN. For those, or for help with any adult case, reach the State's Attorney at 605-997-2207.