People held from this county can be searched in SAVIN, the state's custody and notice system, at savin.sd.gov/portal. Steps that usually work:

1. Load the inmate lookup.
2. Begin with just the surname and given name.
3. Pick the result whose age or middle name lines up.
4. Read the custody status and the facility listed. Someone from here should appear at the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475.
5. Copy any ID number shown, since it speeds up later calls.

Live help for SAVIN is at 844-299-4608, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central on weekdays. At other times, the Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, picks up at 605-258-2244, all day and all night.

An empty search often means one of these:

• Booking isn't done. Intake paperwork can take a while after the arrest.
• They're home. Someone posted bond, or a judge freed them on a written pledge to return.
• The name is typed differently. Try nicknames, a second last name or a maiden name.
• They're a minor. SAVIN leaves juvenile cases out.
• Another agency has them. Maybe a tribe, a neighboring county or federal officers did the arresting.

Deputies always know who they booked and where. Phone the Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, at 605-258-2244, at any hour.

The county runs no jail. In late 2025 its commission signed two Hughes County contracts for 2026, one for adults and one for youth:

• Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475. It holds adults arrested here, and it also houses federal prisoners for the U.S. Marshals.
• Hughes County Juvenile Service Center, Pierre, 605-773-2290. It holds detained youth, with 8 secure and 8 non-secure beds. Call for its street address.

Stanley County, just across the river, relies on that Pierre jail too. Arrests here are still made by the Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244, and the case stays in the local courthouse. Two state lockups also stand on that highway, the Women's Prison and Pierre Minimum Center, 3200 East Highway 34, c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-6636. They hold people serving prison sentences, not county inmates. Our South Dakota prisons list describes them.

SAVIN tracks custody and sends notices; it shows no mugshots. Booking photos are taken during intake at the jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475.

• Anyone wanting a local booking photo, including reporters, can ask the Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, at 605-258-2244.
• For a photo ICE holds, file on its records request page.
• Photos taken by federal agencies are rarely released. The U.S. Marshals are the exception, now and then sharing one to help catch a fugitive.

SAVIN costs nothing, works 24 hours a day, and is run through the Attorney General's office. It was built for victims, but family members may register as well. Enroll on the SAVIN portal to be told about events like a release. Weekday phone help: 844-299-4608.

Victims also have a constitutional right under Marsy's Law to quick word of a release or escape (S.D. Const. art. VI, § 29). For anything SAVIN misses, call the jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, at 605-773-7475.

South Dakota judges start from the mildest option, a written promise to come back (SDCL 23A-43-2). Money or other conditions get added only when that falls short. In this circuit, bond can come from a judge, the posted schedule or the warrant.

• The schedule puts a first DUI at $225 to $1,000.
• Murder, kidnapping and domestic abuse need a judge.
• Pay at the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475, with cash, a postal money order, a cashier's check, a card or through a bail agent.
• When domestic abuse is charged, no contact with the alleged victim, and no visit to their home, is allowed until the first hearing, and relatives can't carry notes either (SDCL 25-10-43). If you are asked to carry one, say no.

Our bail page has the full steps, amounts and refund rules.

Start by asking the jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, at 605-773-7475 what the booking charge is. After the State's Attorney files, the court record shows it:

• Hearings show up on Find a Court Date, a no-cost court system site searched by name or case number.
• UJS also offers eCourts, a docket viewer for public cases.
• The Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2535, answers weekday mornings from 8 a.m. to noon.

The State's Attorney, PO Box 505, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2546, decides the final charges. Misdemeanors bring county jail time; felonies can mean state prison (SDCL 22-6-1, 22-6-2).

A court-appointed lawyer, paid by the county. The judge brings up counsel at the first hearing, and anyone without the means to hire one can request one then (SDCL 23A-40-6).

• That request goes on form UJS-224R, the court-appointed attorney application. The Clerk of Courts, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, has copies at 605-258-2535.
• Down the road, a judge can require repayment of the lawyer's cost (SDCL 23A-40-10).
• Paying a lawyer you pick yourself is fine too.

Two options exist:

• Remote video. Available 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily from your own phone, tablet or computer, scheduled ahead on the provider's website.
• At the jail. You talk through a barrier with no touching, limited to one visit a day per inmate.

For the in-person schedule and dress rules, phone the jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, at 605-773-7475. Our visiting guide explains what to expect.

1. Mail it. Send up to $500, in the form of a cashier's check or a money order from USPS, addressed to Hughes County Jail, Inmate [full name], 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501.
2. Go online. The jail's deposit site accepts Visa, MasterCard or Discover; pick the jail and search the person's name.
3. Use the lobby kiosk. Cash or a card works. A $3.00 fee applies, and deposits can't be undone or refunded.

Commissary orders go out twice a week, and relatives can buy care packages online. See our money guide and commissary guide, or ask the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, at 605-773-7475.

Yes. Outgoing calls and texts run through the phone vendor used by the jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-7475. For account or billing help, its support line is 800-896-3201.

A voicemail box for inmates takes messages at 605-223-5244. Talk about the case is best saved for the lawyer. See also our phone calls and messaging pages.

Starting July 1, 2026, mail goes to two places:

• Everyday letters and cards: Inmate [full name], 1533 S 42nd St Suite 200, Grand Forks, ND 58201. Yes, that address is in North Dakota.
• Legal papers and money orders: Hughes County Jail, Inmate [full name], 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501.

Other items mailed to Pierre get returned to the sender. Write the full legal name every time. Our mail guide lists common rules, and the Hughes County Jail at 605-773-7475 can answer questions on what is allowed.

The jail bags up and keeps what they had on them at booking. Another adult may be able to get them with the person's okay. Call the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, at 605-773-7475. Ask what paperwork is required and what times work, and bring a photo ID.

Yes. A nurse is on call day and night. A doctor holds a clinic at least once a week. Counselors give mental health care, and one is on call when needed.

Tell the jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, about medicine or health needs at 605-773-7475. Name every medicine and dose, plus how to reach whoever prescribed it. Call 911 in an emergency. Back home, the Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244, handles mental health holds.

Warrants anywhere in the county, the county seat included, are served by the Sheriff's Office. Reach it at 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244, any hour, or the Clerk of Courts at 605-258-2535 on weekday mornings. On the web, UJS ePayments marks a known case that has an active warrant. Statewide, check the Sex Offender Registry and the prison system's Most Wanted list of escapees. Clearing a warrant begins with a lawyer's advice. After that, turn in together at the Sheriff's Office, or have the lawyer ask the signing judge for a new hearing. The clerk works in that same building.

The free Find a Court Date site pulls up future hearings when you enter a name or a case number. It can also show every case set in one county on a chosen business day, up to nine days out.

Hearings take place at the courthouse, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564. The Clerk of Courts there answers at 605-258-2535 from 8 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday. Our court page walks through every step of a case.

Federal cases from central South Dakota are heard at 225 South Pierre Street, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-945-4600.

1. Whether they wait for trial at home gets decided at a detention hearing, usually on day one in federal court (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. While they await trial, federal marshals hold them. The U.S. Marshals Service keeps its Pierre office in Suite 425 there, 605-224-8396.
3. The Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501, houses federal prisoners for the Marshals, so ask there too at 605-773-7475.
4. Once sentenced, they appear in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

An immigration case usually unfolds like this:

1. The agency called Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sends what it calls a detainer, numbered Form I-247A.
2. With it, agents want the jail to keep them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Agents from the St. Paul Field Office, 1 Federal Drive, Suite 1601, Fort Snelling, MN 55111, 612-843-8600, come for them.
4. The ICE Online Detainee Locator shows where ICE is holding them.

State law adds one rule here. SB 7 (SL 2025, ch 100) says towns and counties can't bar their workers from telling federal agents what a person's status is.

After a felony prison sentence, the South Dakota Department of Corrections takes over.

• Enter a DOC number or a name in the DOC offender locator. It lists people serving state prison sentences, and county jail inmates won't appear.
• Our state prisons page covers each South Dakota facility.
• Corrections can be reached at 3200 East Highway 34, c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3478.

Youth go to a separate center. When a child from this county must be kept in custody, the stay is at Hughes County's Juvenile Service Center in Pierre, 605-773-2290. Many children are simply released to a parent (SDCL 26-8C-3).

Visits there are for parents and legal guardians, after Social Services approves them. Each lasts about half an hour under staff watch, on weeknights by last name or on weekends first come, first served. Call the center for times and for how to send money.

Only a few agencies patrol this rural county:

• Sheriff's Office, 700 Ash Avenue, Onida, SD 57564, 605-258-2244, answered 24 hours. Onida has no city police, so deputies cover the town by contract. They also patrol Agar and every rural area.
• South Dakota Highway Patrol, Pierre office, 118 West Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, 605-773-3105. Pierre sits in the Patrol's District One, run from PO Box 1797, Aberdeen, SD 57402, 605-626-2286.

Adults booked on a Sully arrest normally stay at the Hughes County Jail, 3100 E Hwy 34, Pierre, SD 57501. Call it at 605-773-7475 to confirm.