South Dakota Inmate Search

You can easily locate an inmate incarcerated in the South Dakota Prison System. The system comprises six state prisons with around 4,000 inmates managed by the South Dakota Department of Corrections. The department also supervises a population of about 6,000 on probation and another 3,500 on parole. 

There are also 26 county jails across 66 counties under the management of the local county sheriffs. Inmates in these jails have sentences not exceeding one year. 

South Dakota also has one federal prison camp, which the North Central Regional Office of the Bureau of Prisons administers. This facility incarcerates around 400 federal male inmates, averaging 53 months in prison.

How to find inmates in the SD County Jails

To locate an inmate in South Dakota, you must visit your local county sheriff's office or website. This is because many county jails in South Dakota maintain an up-to-date inmate roster with the names of the inmates under their care. The list may be customized to show inmates by;

• Name (ascending or descending)
• Date of incarceration 
• Date of Arrest

If you cannot utilize the inmate roster or cannot find your inmate, you can contact the sheriff or the jail to inquire more about the whereabouts of your inmate. Information about how to contact the office or the jail is available on the sheriff's office website.

How to find inmates in the SD State Prisons

If you cannot find inmates in the county jail system, there may be a possibility that they were transferred to state prisons. Besides, most of the inmates in the county jails are awaiting trial. However, a reasonable number of inmates serve time in the facility. These inmates have a sentencing period of one-year maximum. 

To find inmates in state prisons, you must visit the SD DOC offender locator page on their official website. The database is searchable by offender's names or DOC-issued numbers. This database is advanced, however, and you can locate an inmate by their physical description. Here, you need to indicate the inmate's age, race, hair and eye color, visible tattoos and scars, and height. 

How to find inmates in the Federal Prison Camp

If you cannot find your inmate in the SD state prisons, and the inmate happens to be male, there is a possibility they might be in the federal prison camp in Yankton. To locate them, you need to visit the BOP inmate locator database.

This database is searchable in two methods;

• By offender's full name with an optional middle name
• By number, you need to specify whether the FBI, INS, DCDC, or BOP register number

Filling in the correct number but on the wrong category will yield inaccurate data. 

How to use SD SAVIN to locate inmates in SD

The SD SAVIN is a natural resource specifically for victims of crime to be aware of the whereabouts of their offenders. You need to register with SAVIN to receive updates on any change in the inmate's incarceration status. This may include escapes, released dates, disciplinary issues, reduction in their sentencing period, and transfers. 

Sex Offender Search

You can also find sex offenders in SD at various levels. To begin with county level, you can visit your county sheriff and request access to the database. You can also see the SD Sex Offender Registry maintained by the SD Division of Criminal Investigations.