Spink County Sheriff's Department Inmate Bail & Bonds

A judge, or for many small charges a clerk magistrate, sets it. The law's phrase is "without unnecessary delay" (SDCL 23A-4-1). So deputies bring the person to whichever judge nearby can see them first. Judges here may hold it in person or through a camera hookup with the jail. No exact hour count appears in that law, so ask the Sheriff's Department at 605-472-4595 when the hearing is expected.

Cases here run through South Dakota's Fifth Judicial Circuit. Both the magistrate judge and the circuit judge hold court at 210 East 7th Avenue, Redfield, SD 57469. The Clerk of Courts takes calls at 605-472-4535.

• A clerk magistrate may fix bond off the statewide list or release someone on their own word (SDCL 16-12C-10).
• The list stops short of murder, kidnapping and first-degree manslaughter, which a judge handles.
• Domestic abuse bond is decided by a judge too (SDCL 25-10-40).

The judge does not ask for a plea at this hearing. The judge names the charge and covers lawyers, release and silence. Felony charges also get a word on the preliminary hearing (SDCL 23A-4-3).

State law sets out a ladder. The judge must stop on the lowest rung that makes a return to court likely (SDCL 23A-43-2, 23A-43-3). From lightest to strictest:

1. Own promise. Known as personal recognizance. A signature is all it takes, and no cash is paid.
2. Unsecured bond. The person signs for a set amount and owes it only by skipping court.
3. Third-party watch. Someone the judge trusts, or a supervision program, vouches for the person and keeps watch.
4. Rules. The judge can restrict trips, friendships and home address, and can add mental health terms.
5. Deposit. The court takes up to 10 percent of the bond. Make every court date and keep every condition, and that deposit comes back.
6. Surety or full cash. A licensed bondsman or sworn personal surety signs for it, or someone pays it all in cash.

What the judge weighs: the type of crime, the proof against the person, any psychological evaluation, and the chance of flight or harm (SDCL 23A-43-4). Anyone with a Redfield case can climb the full ladder of release terms on our statewide page, one rung at a time.

Every circuit uses the same FY27 statewide fine and bond schedule. The current version kicked in on July 1, 2026. A sample of its ranges:

• First or second DUI: $225 to $1,000
• DUI number three or higher (a felony): $1,000 to $5,000
• Grand theft: $1,000 to $10,000
• Robbery: $1,000 to $25,000
• Marijuana, two ounces or under: released on personal recognizance
• Disorderly conduct ticket: $132.50 all in
• Driving while suspended: $282.50 all in
• Domestic abuse, plus murder, kidnapping or first-degree manslaughter: no clerk amount, only a judge's

These are starting points, and a judge can go higher or lower. To hear the figure on a real case, ring the Clerk of Courts at 605-472-4535 during the week.

Since the person may be an hour or more away, phone ahead before driving anywhere:

1. Call the Sheriff's Department at 605-472-4595. Say who you are calling about and their birthday. Ask which jail and how much.
2. Phone that jail. Ask how it accepts bond and how to fill out a check or money order:
   • Faulk County Jail, 924 Lafoon Avenue, Faulkton, SD 57438, 605-598-6229
   • Beadle County Correction Center, 455 4th Street SW, Suite 100, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8424
   • Brown County Jail, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7101
3. Find out whether a judge still needs to see them first.
4. Pack your ID card plus the right amount, and file away the receipt you get.

In the Fifth Circuit, the money ends up with the Clerk of Courts in Redfield. The clerk holds it until a release order arrives from a judge, the prosecutor or Court Services.

It may. In this circuit the Clerk of Courts is the office that holds bond, so its counter is a sensible stop. Find it on the courthouse's third floor, 210 East 7th Avenue, Redfield, SD 57469, 605-472-4535.

• Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to noon, then 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.
• The counter shuts for lunch, weekends and holidays.
• Office email: SpinkCoClerk@ujs.state.sd.us

Phone first with a short list. How much is due? Will the counter take a check, a money order or cash? Once the clerk is paid, how fast will the host jail let the person go? After hours, the Sheriff's Department at 605-472-4595 can tell you what to do next.

Rules differ between the clerk and each host jail, so ask the place you plan to pay.

UJS ePayments is the court website where a card can pay off fines, court costs and restitution. Bond is handled elsewhere. Its minimum is $25 unless the balance is smaller.

• Don't put bills in an envelope.
• Ask for a receipt showing the case and the sum.
• Keep a note of who paid. In this circuit, cash bond is treated as belonging to the accused, even if Mom, Dad or a friend paid.

The Clerk of Courts, 605-472-4535, can answer what the counter accepts.

For a fee, a bondsman guarantees the court the whole bond. Each one must hold a license from the South Dakota Division of Insurance at 124 South Euclid Avenue, 2nd Floor, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3563. Phone there to confirm a license or to report a problem.

• Anyone who writes bonds without that license commits a Class 6 felony (SDCL 58-22-4).
• Jail staff and police can't earn a cent from any bail bond (SDCL 58-22-3).
• The law also covers soliciting where prisoners are kept (SDCL 58-22-32).
• We found no cap in state law on what an agent may charge. Insist on a written price and a signed receipt for any collateral.
• Family members can stand surety too, but each one swears in writing to what property they own (SDCL 23A-43-20). Practicing lawyers may not sign.

The courts keep an official bail bond agent list.

Yes. Bond is tied to a single case number. Watch for these other holds:

• Outside warrants. Any case from another county or state is handled on its own.
• Probation. Court Services, which supervises probation here, works out of 101 First Avenue SE, Suite 101, Aberdeen, SD 57402, 605-626-2275.
• Parole. The state corrections system can hold a parolee after a new arrest.
• A domestic case. No one leaves on those until a judge has weighed in.
• Federal or ICE papers. These have nothing to do with the state bond and stay put.

Before money changes hands, ring the Sheriff's Department at 605-472-4595 and have staff look for every hold.

On a DUI or a drug or alcohol charge, a judge can add the state's 24/7 Sobriety Program to the bond terms (SDCL 1-11-20). The county runs local testing, so ask the Sheriff's Department at 605-472-4595 for the site and test times.

Testing may mean breath checks every morning and evening, an alcohol-sensing ankle bracelet, urine tests or a sweat-collecting drug patch. Fees can't go above these caps:

• Each breath test: $3 at most (SDCL 1-11-26)
• Each urine test: $10 at most (SDCL 1-11-27)
• Each drug patch: $70 at most (SDCL 1-11-28)
• Bracelet: $10 a day at most, plus up to $50 each to fit and to remove it (SDCL 1-11-29)

Skipping a test or failing one can lead to an arrest. The person then waits in jail, with no bond, for a judge.

Deputies may not release someone on a domestic charge on their own. A judge must be told and then decides on bond and on safety rules for the alleged victim (SDCL 25-10-40). Typical rules are staying away, leaving the shared home, giving up alcohol and drugs, and going to counseling (SDCL 25-10-41).

From arrest to the first court date, the law bars every kind of contact with the person who reported the abuse and with their household. A call, text, letter or relayed message all count, even one sent by a friend. Doing it on purpose is a Class 1 misdemeanor (SDCL 25-10-43).

So, if you are asked to pass along a message, say no. For the exact terms, call the Clerk of Courts at 605-472-4535.

Almost never. Under the state constitution, the only people who can be held with no bail are those facing a death-penalty charge with strong proof (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8).

A judge with real worries tends to raise the bond or add tight rules instead. Things that count include how serious the crime is, how solid the proof seems, any psychiatric findings, and the danger of running or harming others (SDCL 23A-43-4). Crime victims can speak at release hearings (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29).

The prosecutor in these hearings is the State's Attorney, 210 East 7th Avenue, Suite 9, Redfield, SD 57469, 605-472-4593, upstairs in the courthouse.

South Dakota offers three routes to a second look:

1. The one-day review. Still in a cell 24 hours after bond terms were set because the money or rules can't be met? A new review may then be sought (SDCL 23A-43-8).
2. A change by the same judge. Release terms can be adjusted at any point (SDCL 23A-43-7).
3. Going up a level. Terms a magistrate wrote can be rewritten by a circuit judge (SDCL 23A-43-14). Past that, the state's highest court can review it on appeal (SDCL 23A-43-15).

Families can help the lawyer by gathering proof of work, housing and local family, along with a true picture of what they can pay. Offering to do 24/7 testing may also help. The Clerk of Courts at 605-472-4535 can say how such a request is scheduled.

Ask the judge at the very first hearing (SDCL 23A-40-6). Rather than a public defender's office, the county pays for private attorneys named by the court, which state law permits (SDCL 23A-40-7, 23A-40-8).

• Paying that fee back to the county can be ordered whether the case is won or lost (SDCL 23A-40-10).
• A lien for the bill can be placed on property, but the family home can never be foreclosed (SDCL 23A-40-11, 23A-40-15).
• On the smallest charges, such as Class 2 misdemeanors and petty offenses, the right to a free lawyer ends if the person sits at home and faces no jail time (SDCL 23A-40-6.1).

The state's newer Office of Indigent Legal Services, created in 2024, works on appeals. For paperwork, phone the Clerk of Courts at 605-472-4535.

State charges from anywhere in the county land in a single Redfield building. Federal charges go north to Aberdeen.

• Spink County Courthouse, home of circuit court and magistrate court, 210 East 7th Avenue, Redfield, SD 57469. Clerk of Courts, third floor, 605-472-4535, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. City ordinance cases go to magistrate court here as well.
• State's Attorney, 210 East 7th Avenue, Suite 9, Redfield, SD 57469, 605-472-4593.
• U.S. District Court, Northern Division, 102 Fourth Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401. Federal probation and pretrial staff in that building answer at 605-377-2625.

A typical misdemeanor is handled start to finish by the magistrate. A felony opens there and is then sent up to circuit court.

Once every term is kept and the case is over, the court frees the bail (SDCL 23A-43-26). A ten percent deposit is returned the same way (SDCL 23A-43-3).

The Fifth Circuit has a written bond release policy. The clerk holds the money until a judge, the prosecutor or Court Services approves a release. Under it, cash bond belongs to the person charged, whoever paid it. The court may first take out, in order, court costs, restitution, attorney fees and fines. What remains is refunded.

• Breaking a term or missing court can forfeit the bond and bring a warrant (SDCL 23A-43-21).
• Not showing up is a separate crime. A skipped court date also brings a fresh charge. People let out on a felony or DUI face a Class 6 felony, while those let out on a misdemeanor face a Class 1 misdemeanor (SDCL 23A-43-31).
• A judge may wipe out a forfeiture when justice calls for it (SDCL 23A-43-22).

Ask the Clerk of Courts at 605-472-4535 when a refund check will be ready.

The person is let out at the jail that held them, in Faulkton, Huron or Aberdeen. That jail keeps their keys, wallet, cell phone, clothing and leftover account money. Arrange a ride home ahead of time.

Ask the Sheriff's Department at 605-472-4595 to confirm the jail. Then ask the jail how leftover money is paid out and whether another adult may collect items with a signed note. Our jail account money guide covers how deposits and refunds commonly work.

Federal crimes charged in this county fall to the Northern Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota. That court sits at 102 Fourth Avenue SE, Aberdeen, SD 57401.

• Release is fought over at the very first federal hearing. A brief pause is allowed if asked for, up to five days when the defense requests it and three when prosecutors do, with custody in the meantime (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• The person stays in federal custody. The U.S. Marshals Service runs that custody from an Aberdeen office at 102 Southeast 4th Avenue, Suite 409, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-226-1794. Call there to learn the jail.
• Federal pretrial officers in the Aberdeen courthouse write a report for the judge, 605-377-2625.
• After sentencing, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

No. Immigration holds are federal, and a state bond can't clear them. Expect these steps:

1. Immigration officers file a detainer with the jail. Its federal form number is I-247A.
2. The jail is then asked to keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Agents come for the person. All of South Dakota is assigned to the ICE St. Paul Field Office at 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600. ICE lists the Pennington County Jail, 307 Saint Joseph Street, Rapid City, SD 57701, 605-394-6116, among its holding sites.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator with a name and birth country.

A 2025 law, SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100), also matters here. Under it, no town or county in South Dakota can order its workers to keep a person's immigration status from federal agents.

Short misdemeanor terms stay local, inside a county jail. For a felony, the sentence is served in a state prison under the South Dakota Department of Corrections (SDCL 22-6-1, 22-6-2).

• Judges are expected to give probation on Class 5 and Class 6 felonies unless the case shows real risk (SDCL 22-6-11).
• For those two classes, the sentence can instead be a local jail stay capped at one year (SDCL 22-6-1.1).

Search a name or DOC number on the state offender locator. Every unit is described in our South Dakota state prison guide. Corrections headquarters is at 3200 East Highway 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

Juvenile court, a branch of circuit court, handles young people 10 and older (SDCL 26-8C-2). A parent usually picks the child up. A teen can be held only on a ground the statute names, and in the gentlest place that works (SDCL 26-8C-3). Only after a transfer hearing can a judge move a juvenile's case to adult court (SDCL 26-11-4).

Juvenile centers near the county:

• Brown County Juvenile Detention Center, 22 Court Street, Suite 1, Aberdeen, SD 57401, 605-626-7102
• Beadle County Juvenile Detention Center, 455 4th Street SW, Suite 100, Huron, SD 57350, 605-353-8424

Juvenile diversion here is run under a contract with Beadle County. To learn where a young person went, call the Sheriff's Department at 605-472-4595.