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.
Clay County, South Dakota, has about 15,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Clay County Sheriff's Office, one city agency and one campus 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 Clay 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: Clay County public records, South Dakota arrest records, South Dakota inmate search and South Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Clay County
The Clay County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Clay County. It reported 19 arrests for 2025.
One city in Clay County reports its arrests to the FBI separately:
- Vermillion, 11,877 residents: 359 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.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Clay County: the University of South Dakota (campus police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Clay County
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.
- Vermillion: 359 for 2025, 257 for 2024, 408 for 2023, 366 for 2021, 282 for 2020 and 407 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Clay County Sheriff's Office: 19 for 2025, 34 for 2024, 28 for 2023, 30 for 2022, 32 for 2021 and 29 for 2020.
Together, the two agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 378 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 378 in 2025 against 291 in 2024, up 30 percent.
Through July 2026, the two agencies with every month so far on file reported 178 arrests, against 208 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clay County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clay County and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 9 people, down from about 13 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 14 beds, and it ran at 95 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the South Dakota Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.sd.gov/adult-corrections/offender-locator.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Clay County
An arrest in Clay County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court for Clay County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at ujs.sd.gov/court-finder/first-judicial-circuit/clay-county, phone 605-677-6756); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at claycountysd.org/statesattorneysoffice.cfm).
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 Clay County
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. 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 Clay County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Vermillion: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the University of South Dakota: the records office of the agency involved.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Clay County, through the court records page at ujs.sd.gov, phone 605-677-6756.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at claycountyoem.org/public-information (page title: Public Information Requests | Clay County, South Dakota Emergency Management).
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Clay County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for one of the two cities in Clay County: Vermillion. Wakonda has 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 Clay County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clay County each year?
Vermillion reported 359 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the two agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 378 between them.
Where are people arrested in Clay County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Clay County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clay County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Clay 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 Clay County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clay 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; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at claycountyoem.org/public-information.
Is this the official Clay 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.