South Dakota runs one statewide court system. Both of its trial levels meet under one roof in Onida:

• Magistrate court tries misdemeanors and town ordinance cases (SDCL 16-12B-11). Its judges sign warrants, fix bond and act as the first judge a person sees (SDCL 16-12B-5, 16-12B-7, 16-12B-10). When the top penalty is $2,000 or one year in jail, a magistrate can take the guilty plea and hand down the sentence too (SDCL 16-12B-8).
• Clerk magistrates handle the smallest matters, where the most a person faces is $500 or 30 days (SDCL 16-12C-11).
• Circuit court takes every felony, the bigger jury trials and juvenile files.

A felony's early steps, such as bond and the preliminary hearing, play out before a magistrate. The file is then bound over to a circuit judge.

Most hearings happen in the county courthouse, and its clerk keeps every file. Several regional offices round out the list:

• Clerk of Courts (circuit and magistrate court), 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535. Open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon. Letters go to PO Box 188, Onida, SD 57564.
• Sixth Judicial Circuit office, Hughes County Courthouse, 104 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3712.
• Court Services (probation), 104 E Capitol Ave, Suite 3, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3874.
• Sixth Circuit Drug & DUI Court, 8 E. Second Ave., Fort Pierre, SD 57532, 605-220-3850.

Anyone may read open case records on the public terminals kept in South Dakota courthouses.

Neither town has a court of its own. A city ordinance ticket from the county seat, Agar or a rural spot is heard in magistrate court at 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535 (SDCL 16-12B-11).

The county seat also relies on deputies instead of city police. The Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244, handles the town under a contract and answers any hour.

State law requires that anyone arrested go before a judge "without unnecessary delay," the closest one free to hear it (SDCL 23A-4-1). The hearing may be live or by video from Pierre. Nobody enters a plea yet. The judge's job is to explain (SDCL 23A-4-3):

• the charge in the complaint
• how to hire a lawyer, or how to get one appointed
• the terms for release before trial
• the freedom to say nothing
• for felony charges only, a chance at a preliminary hearing

Bond also comes up at this hearing. In this circuit it can come from the judge, the schedule or the warrant, and the judge records why a release on the person's own word will or won't do.

Misdemeanor complaints are filed in magistrate court by the State's Attorney, PO Box 505, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2546. The defendant then pleads. Saying not guilty leads to a trial setting. When a jury is picked, the defense and the state may each bump three people for no stated reason (SDCL 23A-20-20). Maximum penalties (SDCL 22-6-2):

• Class 1: a maximum of one year behind bars locally and a $2,000 fine. A DUI counts as Class 1 the first and second time.
• Class 2: a maximum of 30 days behind bars locally and a $500 fine.

Many tickets have a set total, like $132.50 for disorderly conduct or $282.50 for driving under suspension. Those can be paid online with UJS ePayments. The trial must start within 180 days from the first appearance, minus time lost to defense delays (SDCL 23A-44-5.1). Local county jail time is served at the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475.

1. Opening hearing before a magistrate, with bond decided.
2. Preliminary hearing, where a judge weighs the evidence. A jailed defendant gets it inside 15 days; one who is free, inside 45. It is skipped if waived or if an indictment comes first (SDCL 23A-4-3).
3. The charging paper. Most often the State's Attorney (PO Box 505, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2546) files and signs an information. Less often, a circuit judge calls a grand jury, which seats between 6 and 10 people (SDCL 23A-5-1).
4. Arraignment, where the circuit judge hears the plea.
5. Plea bargain or trial, with the 180-day clock still running.
6. Sentencing.

The lower classes carry these limits (SDCL 22-6-1): Class 6, two years and $4,000; Class 5, five years and $10,000; Class 4, ten years and $20,000. The law presumes probation for those two lowest classes, Class 5 and Class 6, unless the judge spots a real public danger (SDCL 22-6-11). County jail of up to a year can stand in for prison (SDCL 22-6-1.1).

Yes. The most serious charges are tougher at almost every stage:

• Prison terms. The ceiling is 15 years on a Class 3, 25 on a Class 2 and 50 on a Class 1. Classes B and C bring life, and Class A brings life or death (SDCL 22-6-1).
• Bond. Charges of murder, kidnapping or first-degree manslaughter leave the dollar figure to a judge; the clerk's schedule is off limits.
• Family violence. Release waits on a judge, who can set terms such as staying away, leaving the shared home, sobriety and counseling (SDCL 25-10-40, 25-10-41). Any contact with the victim's household before the first hearing is its own crime (SDCL 25-10-43).
• Picking a jury. Class A, B, C and Class 1 felony trials give each side 20 strikes without stated reasons (SDCL 23A-20-20).
• Victims' voice. Marsy's Law guarantees victims a chance to speak about release, any plea deal and the sentence (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29).

Crimes here are prosecuted by the State's Attorney, PO Box 505, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2546.

A defendant without money for a lawyer asks the judge, and the court must appoint one (SDCL 23A-40-6). The county pays that lawyer (SDCL 23A-40-8). Requests use form UJS-224R, the application for court-appointed counsel, available from the Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, at 605-258-2535. Keep in mind:

• Repayment of the lawyer's cost may be ordered even when the charge is dropped (SDCL 23A-40-10).
• Someone free on a petty offense or Class 2 misdemeanor, with no risk of jail, gets no appointed lawyer (SDCL 23A-40-6.1).
• For people with addiction, a referral to the Sixth Circuit Drug & DUI Court, 8 E. Second Ave., Fort Pierre, SD 57532, 605-220-3850, may be possible. The UJS Division of Treatment Courts, 306 E Capitol Avenue, Suite 310, Pierre, SD 57501, answers at 605-773-4161.

The state court system runs three web tools:

• Find a Court Date, free, finds upcoming hearings from a name or case number. A second tool on that site lists one county's hearings for any of the next ten business days, today included.
• UJS eCourts lets you read the docket of a public case.
• PARS sums up criminal records from 1989 forward. Every search costs $20, whether or not it finds anything.

Paper files, including older ones, are kept by the Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535. The phone is staffed weekday mornings only, 8 a.m. to noon, so call early with the full name and birth date.

Arrest and bench warrants here are served by Sheriff's deputies, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244, a line staffed day and night. Ask that desk, or the Clerk of Courts at 605-258-2535, whether a warrant exists. If you have a case number, UJS ePayments flags an active warrant. The state's own lists are the Sex Offender Registry plus the prison system's Most Wanted page for escapes. Get legal advice before acting on a warrant. Next, surrender at the Sheriff's Office with counsel present, or the lawyer can ask the judge who signed it to set a new hearing. The clerk works weekday mornings in that same courthouse.

Cases brought by federal prosecutors here go to the Central Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota, U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600.

• A detention hearing opens the case. Right away, a federal judge rules on release, unless a lawyer seeks a brief delay (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Deputy marshals keep and transport federal prisoners. Find the U.S. Marshals Service at 225 South Pierre Street, Suite 425, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-224-8396.
• Background reports for the judge come from federal pretrial officers, who work from that courthouse too, 605-945-4640.
• Prosecution comes from the U.S. Attorney's Pierre branch, PO Box 7240, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-224-5402.
• Following sentencing, look in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Court dates keep coming as usual. What shifts is release day. Immigration officers may lodge what's called a detainer (Form I-247A). It requests holding the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, which gives agents time to arrive (8 CFR 287.7(d)).

1. Posting bond or finishing a sentence may not bring freedom while that request stands.
2. Agents from the St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600, handle South Dakota pickups.
3. After transfer, track the person with the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Tell the defense lawyer about immigration concerns at the start. A guilty plea can carry consequences for status. Since SB 7 passed in 2025 (SL 2025, ch 100), towns and counties here cannot stop their employees from sharing someone's immigration status with federal agents.

Felony prison time is overseen by the South Dakota Department of Corrections.

• The DOC offender locator works with a name or an inmate DOC ID.
• See profiles of every facility in our state prisons of South Dakota directory.
• The department's main office is 3200 East Highway 34, c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

Court Services, 104 E Capitol Ave, Suite 3, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3874, oversees probation for the courts. Parole falls to Corrections.

Juvenile court, a part of circuit court, hears cases against children age 10 and older (SDCL 26-8C-2). Release to a parent or guardian is the norm. Detention requires one of the reasons named in statute, plus a finding that nothing less strict will work (SDCL 26-8C-3).

• A youth from here who is held goes to the Hughes County Juvenile Service Center, which the county pays under a 2026 agreement. Phone 605-773-2290 to learn where to go and when visits happen.
• Transfer to adult court needs a hearing first, then a judge's order (SDCL 26-11-4).
• Families ask for a lawyer for the child on form UJS-224A.

Victims in South Dakota hold rights under the state constitution, which they can ask to use (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29):

• prompt notice of hearings, and the right to be there
• a say on release, a plea, the sentence and parole
• full and prompt restitution
• safety from the accused, plus notice of any release or escape

Law enforcement gives each victim a Marsy's Card spelling out those rights. Free release alerts come from SAVIN, online or at 844-299-4608. Because SAVIN leaves out juvenile matters, a victim of a youth should phone the State's Attorney, PO Box 505, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2546.