Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 September 30, 2026.
Watertown, South Dakota, in Codington County, has about 23,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Watertown is held at the county jail, run by the Codington County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Watertown public records, Codington County inmate search, Watertown arrest records, Watertown warrants, Watertown criminal records, Watertown court records, South Dakota arrest records and South Dakota inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Watertown
The county jail, run by the Codington County Sheriff's Office, holds everyone kept in custody after an arrest in Watertown, from every agency.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Codington County Sheriff's Office at codington.sdcounty.gov/sheriff (page title: Codington County Sheriff's Office | The Codington County Sheriff’s Office is a full-service office providing C), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster.
The Codington County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 64 people, up from about 46 in 2018. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Codington County has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 22 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Codington County Jail
The Codington County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Watertown (filed by the FBI as Watertown Police Department) make the arrests that end in a booking in and around Watertown.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Watertown's 1,279 for 2025 and the Codington County Sheriff's Office's 211 for 2025.
Together, the two agencies in Codington County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 1,490 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Watertown arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
The jail holds people awaiting trial and people serving short sentences. A person sentenced to prison in Codington County 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Watertown?
Ask the Codington County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at codington.sdcounty.gov/sheriff.
How many people are in the Codington County jail?
About 64 on an average day in 2021, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Codington County go?
To a facility of the South Dakota Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at doc.sd.gov/adult-corrections/offender-locator.
Is this the official Watertown 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.