Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and October 9, 2026.
Spearfish, South Dakota, in Lawrence County, has about 14,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the State's Attorney files charges, a case in the Circuit Court for Lawrence County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Spearfish public records, Lawrence County arrest records, South Dakota arrest records and South Dakota inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Spearfish
The FBI lists Spearfish with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Spearfish Police Department. It reported 285 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 104 arrests for 2025.
How Many Arrests Spearfish Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Spearfish: 285 for 2025, 316 for 2024, 309 for 2023, 226 for 2022, 232 for 2021 and 355 for 2020.
Spearfish's 285 arrests in 2025 were down 9.8 percent from 316 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Spearfish reported 157 arrests, against 163 in the same months of 2025.
Across Lawrence County, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 740 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Spearfish Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Spearfish is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2023 the jail held about 49 people, up from about 36 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 53 beds, and it ran at 92 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office at lawrence.sd.us/198/Sheriffs-Office (page title: Sheriff's Office | Lawrence County, SD), phone 605-578-2230, 50 Tatanka Dr Deadwood, SD 57732, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 9, 2026.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the South Dakota Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.sd.gov/adult-corrections/offender-locator.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Spearfish
An arrest in Spearfish can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: UJS Public Access Record Search, the South Dakota courts' statewide search, with a fee per name, which shows whether charges were filed; the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lawrence.sd.us/354/States-Attorney, phone 605-578-1707).
South Dakota does not let the public search another person's statewide criminal history. The record kept by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation goes to the person it belongs to and to employers and agencies the law authorizes; for everyone else the court's own case index is the public record of an arrest that led to a charge.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Spearfish
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the South Dakota Open Records Law the agency must answer within 10 business days, and it may charge copying and staff time.
- An arrest by the Spearfish police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at spearfish.gov/225/Request-for-Public-Information-Policy (page title: Request for Public Information Policy | Spearfish, SD), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at 605-578-2230.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 605-578-1707, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
The Lawrence County guide covers every agency in the county: Lawrence County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Spearfish each year?
Spearfish reported 285 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Spearfish?
Ask the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office at 605-578-2230; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lawrence.sd.us/198/Sheriffs-Office.
Where are people arrested in Spearfish booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Spearfish?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Lawrence County are public and can be looked up through the court. The statewide criminal history kept by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is not public; you can get your own. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the South Dakota Open Records Law.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Spearfish?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Spearfish police for its own arrests, the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the South Dakota Open Records Law the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Spearfish website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.