Sully County Sheriff's Office Inmate Bail & Bonds

Sixth Judicial Circuit bonds come from one of three sources: a judge, the circuit's printed schedule, or a figure already written on the warrant. Clerk magistrates handle many everyday charges straight from the schedule. A judge alone decides bond on murder, kidnapping, first-degree manslaughter and any domestic abuse count.

Officers have to bring anyone they arrest to the closest judge "without unnecessary delay" (SDCL 23A-4-1). Plenty of those first hearings happen on a screen, so nobody has to drive to court. The judge then explains the charge, release, the choice to keep quiet, and how to request a lawyer (SDCL 23A-4-3).

The judges who hear these cases sit in the same building as the Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564. Staff pick up 605-258-2535 weekday mornings, 8 a.m. until noon, and can tell you the first hearing date.

The law tilts toward freedom. Unless it won't bring the person back, the judge lets them leave on a signed pledge (personal recognizance) or an unsecured bond, with nothing paid now (SDCL 23A-43-2). When more is needed, the judge reaches for the first item on this ladder that will do the job (SDCL 23A-43-3):

• A watcher. Someone, or some group, takes charge of them.
• Boundaries. Where they may travel or live, and who they may see.
• Mental health steps, such as an evaluation or counseling.
• A small deposit. A cash slice, capped at 10 percent of the bond, is paid in and returned when every term is kept.
• Surety or full cash. A licensed bondsperson guarantees it, or the whole sum is paid.
• Anything else the judge believes is needed.

In drinking and drug cases, a judge often makes joining the 24/7 Sobriety Program part of release (SDCL 1-11-20): breath tests morning and evening, or a monitoring bracelet, sweat patch or urine checks. State law limits the cost to $3 per breath test, $10 per urine test, $70 per patch, and $10 per bracelet day plus no more than $50 to attach it and $50 to remove it. The Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244, can say where local participants go to test.

Local clerks work from the FY2027 Fine and Bond Schedule the Sixth Circuit adopted, in use since July 1, 2026. Within each band, a clerk magistrate picks a number or allows a no-cash release. Some bands:

• First DUI: $225 to $1,000
• Third or later DUI, which is a felony: $1,000 to $5,000
• Most remaining Class 1 misdemeanors: $95 to $1,000
• Up to two ounces of marijuana: released on a promise, no cash
• Burglary or grand theft: $1,000 to $10,000
• Robbery or rape: $1,000 to $25,000
• Murder, first-degree manslaughter, kidnapping: judge only
• Domestic abuse: judge only, with conditions

Any Class 2 misdemeanor missing from the ticket section also needs a judge. To hear the exact figure, phone the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, at 605-773-7475.

Money for a bond goes to the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501. Any adult with ID, age 18 and up, may post it. A simple plan:

1. Phone 605-773-7475 before leaving home.
2. Tell staff the person's complete legal name and date of birth.
3. Get the amount and learn which charge it belongs to.
4. Check for anything else blocking release, like a second warrant or a hearing still needed.
5. Ask which hours the jail takes bond.
6. Carry photo ID. A cashier's check or postal money order should name "Hughes County Jail" as payee.
7. Save the receipt you are given.

Domestic abuse cases differ: staff wait for a judge's terms before taking any money.

Once posted, cash bond is kept by the Clerk of Courts. Under Sixth Circuit policy, only a judge's signed release lets it go. Whether that office's counter will take a fresh bond is something to settle by phone first.

• Clerk of Courts: 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535, weekdays 8 a.m. to noon. Its mailing address is PO Box 188, Onida, SD 57564.
• Sheriff's Office: 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244. The line never closes; after hours it rolls over to dispatch. Deputies know where a given bond is being handled.

The county seat has no city police force. The Sheriff's Office covers the town by contract, so its desk is your local stop.

For bond, the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, lists four choices:

• A licensed bail bond company.
• Postal money orders and cashier's checks, each made out to "Hughes County Jail."
• Cash in hand.
• A card payment through CourtMoney, the online service named on the jail's own page. Ask what extra cost applies before paying.

Plain personal checks are not among them. The courts' UJS ePayments portal handles fines, costs and restitution by card, and bail is outside what it does. Mailed cash is never safe. A quick call to 605-773-7475 confirms today's options.

Every bondsperson here must carry a South Dakota Division of Insurance license (SDCL 58-22). Doing the work unlicensed is a Class 6 felony (SDCL 58-22-4). Some smart moves:

• Verify the license, or report a problem, with the Division at 124 South Euclid Avenue, 2nd Floor, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3563.
• Browse the court system's official bail bond agents page.
• Insist on a written price and written collateral terms, plus a receipt for whatever you hand over.
• No jailer, deputy or officer may gain from a bail bond (SDCL 58-22-3), and soliciting where inmates are housed is barred (SDCL 58-22-32).
• A family member can stand as a personal surety by swearing to their assets and debts (SDCL 23A-43-20). Practicing attorneys are barred from that role.

A bond answers for the case it was set in, nothing else. Your person can still be held for reasons like these:

• A second warrant, whether from another county, another state or another court.
• Supervision trouble. Court Services, which runs probation for this county, is at 104 E Capitol Ave, Suite 3, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3874.
• Domestic abuse. No one walks out on these charges until a judge has been told and has ruled on bond (SDCL 25-10-40). Until the first court appearance, reaching the alleged victim, or members of that household, is forbidden, even by a go-between. Breaking that is a Class 1 misdemeanor (SDCL 25-10-43). Families should refuse to relay notes or calls.
• 24/7 slips. One skipped or failed test can mean a return to a cell, held with no bond until a judge takes a look.
• Federal or immigration detainers.

Have the jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, at 605-773-7475 list every hold before money changes hands.

Flat denial of bail fits just one narrow case under the state constitution: a capital charge where guilt looks plain (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 8). For nearly every other case, the argument is about which terms apply.

The judge sizes those terms by weighing the charge and its evidence, any mental health report, the chance of running and public safety (SDCL 23A-43-4). Marsy's Law lets the victim be heard at release hearings (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29).

The state's side is argued by the State's Attorney, PO Box 505, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2546. Our statewide page sorts out no-bail cases and holds for anyone following an Onida case.

Terms can be revisited whenever the judge sees fit (SDCL 23A-43-7). Families who want a lower number usually go this way:

1. Still stuck a full day past the release hearing, unable to meet what was ordered? The person may then request a review (SDCL 23A-43-8).
2. If a magistrate wrote the terms, the circuit court may be asked to rework them (SDCL 23A-43-14).
3. The defense lawyer files with the Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535.
4. Pull together proof of work, housing, nearby relatives and an honest budget.
5. Offer something that answers the judge's worry, say twice-daily testing or a responsible adult as supervisor.

Short on money for a lawyer? The judge will assign one on request (SDCL 23A-40-6), usually at the first hearing. The request uses the court's court-appointed attorney application, form UJS-224R. A judge picks the lawyer, and the county covers the fee (SDCL 23A-40-7, 23A-40-8).

• A judge may later tell the person to repay the county, win or lose (SDCL 23A-40-10).
• A county lien may attach to property, though a homestead is safe from foreclosure (SDCL 23A-40-11, 23A-40-15).
• Some small cases get no lawyer. Picture a Class 2 misdemeanor, or just a petty offense, where the defendant is already home and a jail sentence is off the table (SDCL 23A-40-6.1).
• The state's Office of Indigent Legal Services covers appeals only.

Copies of the form are at the Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535.

One courthouse handles both felonies and misdemeanors from this county. These other offices also come into play:

• Circuit and magistrate court, Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535, weekday mornings 8 a.m. to noon. Town ordinance tickets land here as well.
• Sixth Circuit administration, Hughes County Courthouse, 104 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3712.
• Sixth Circuit Drug & DUI Court, 8 E. Second Ave., Fort Pierre, SD 57532, 605-220-3850. The defense lawyer can say if a referral makes sense.
• U.S. District Court, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600.

Refunds follow the Sixth Circuit's third-party bond and release policy:

• The Clerk of Courts guards cash bond, and a judge decides when it is freed.
• It is treated as the defendant's money, no matter who put it up.
• Fines, costs, restitution and attorney fees may be paid from it first.
• The rest is repaid to the defendant, or paid to their lawyer if the defendant signs for that.
• A 10 percent deposit is repaid after all terms are met (SDCL 23A-43-3).

Skipping court costs the bail and adds a charge of its own (SDCL 23A-43-31). Someone freed on a felony or DUI who fails to show commits a Class 6 felony. For a person freed on a misdemeanor, the no-show is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Any serious breach of terms triggers a warrant (SDCL 23A-43-21), though a judge may cancel a forfeiture when fairness calls for it (SDCL 23A-43-22). Refund questions go to the clerk's office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, at 605-258-2535.

Settle questions about money and belongings while your person is still inside the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501. Phone 605-773-7475 and ask how any account balance comes back and what time property can be claimed.

Carry a photo ID. When picking up on someone's behalf, find out whether a signed permission note is needed. Money put in at the lobby kiosk is final, with no refunds. Our guide to jail accounts lays out how balances generally work.

Central South Dakota's federal cases belong to the Central Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, in the federal building at 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600.

• Home or jail is decided at a detention hearing, held at the opening federal court date. Postponing it is allowed. Defense lawyers may win five extra days, prosecutors three, and the wait is spent locked up (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Until trial, the person is in the U.S. Marshals Service's custody. Its Pierre office is at 225 South Pierre Street, Suite 425, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-224-8396.
• Hughes County has an agreement with the Marshals to house federal prisoners at its jail.
• After sentencing, switch to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Paying a state bond leaves a federal immigration request untouched. Here is what tends to happen:

1. Federal immigration officers, part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), lodge a detainer. Its official name is Form I-247A.
2. With that paper, agents ask the jail to hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE takes custody. This state falls under the St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600.
4. Check the ICE Online Detainee Locator to follow the person.

A 2025 state law, SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100), also applies. Under it, no city or county may gag its own staff when federal agents ask about a person's immigration status.

Misdemeanor sentences are served locally in county jail, not prison (SDCL 22-6-2). Probation is the starting point for Class 5 and 6 felonies (SDCL 22-6-11), and a judge may swap prison for up to one year of county time (SDCL 22-6-1.1). For this county, that time is served under the contract at the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475.

Anything longer goes to the South Dakota Department of Corrections.

• Use the state's offender locator, which accepts a DOC number or a name.
• Every facility is profiled on our prisons in South Dakota pages.
• Reach Corrections at 3200 East Highway 34, c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

Juvenile court, a branch of circuit court, covers lawbreakers age 10 and up (SDCL 26-8C-2). Usually the child is sent home with a parent or guardian. Locking a youth up is allowed only on grounds spelled out in the statute, in the least restrictive place that works (SDCL 26-8C-3).

• Youth from this county who must be detained are housed in Pierre at the Hughes County Juvenile Service Center, under a 2026 contract. Dial 605-773-2290 for directions and rules.
• Shifting a youth's case into adult court requires a transfer hearing and then an order signed by a judge (SDCL 26-11-4).
• Parents request a lawyer for a minor on the juvenile form, UJS-224A.