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.
Butte County, South Dakota, has about 11,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Butte County Sheriff's Office and one city agency. An arrest 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 Butte County. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Butte County public records, South Dakota arrest records, South Dakota inmate search and South Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Butte County
The Butte County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Butte County. It reported 57 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists one city in Butte County with a reporting agency of its own:
- Belle Fourche, 5,855 residents: 96 arrests reported for 2025.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Butte County
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts 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.
- Belle Fourche: 96 for 2025, 166 for 2024, 172 for 2023, 87 for 2022, 99 for 2020 and 131 for 2019; 2021 is missing months.
- Butte County Sheriff's Office: 57 for 2025, 31 for 2021, 25 for 2020 and 16 for 2019; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 153 arrests that year. The one of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 96 in 2025 against 166 in 2024, down 42 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Butte County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Butte County 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 2019 the jail held about 12 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 18 beds, and it ran at 65 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 Butte County Sheriff's Office at buttesd.gov/sheriff (page title: Butte County | Sheriffs Office), phone (605) 892-2737, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 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 Butte County
An arrest in Butte County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court for Butte County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dakotaathome.sd.gov/search/f45278a2-1fd4-528f-bf30-cea718cadf6f, phone 605-892-2516); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at buttesd.gov/attorney, phone (605) 892-3337).
Statewide, UJS Public Access Record Search is the South Dakota courts' statewide search, with a fee per name.
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 Butte County
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 Butte County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (605) 892-2737.
- An arrest in Belle Fourche: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, (605) 892-3337, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Butte County, through the court records page at dakotaathome.sd.gov, phone 605-892-2516.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Butte County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the four cities in Butte County: Belle Fourche. Newell, Nisland and Fruitdale have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Circuit Court for Butte County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Butte County each year?
Belle Fourche reported 96 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 153 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Butte County?
Ask the Butte County Sheriff's Office at (605) 892-2737; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at buttesd.gov/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Butte County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Butte County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Butte County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Butte 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 Butte County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Butte County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. Under the South Dakota Open Records Law the answer is due within 10 business days.
Is this the official Butte County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.