Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest and crime counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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). In South Dakota the public criminal record is the court file, kept by the Clerk of Courts; the statewide criminal history kept by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is released only to its subject and to the employers and agencies the law allows. This guide says where each record of a criminal case from Clay County is kept and how it is seen.
This guide covers the court file, the statewide record, local arrest records, the crimes behind the records, the prosecutor, sex offender registry, records requests and common questions.
Related guides: Clay County public records, Clay County arrest records, Clay County warrants, Clay County court records, Clay County police reports, South Dakota arrest records and South Dakota inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court for Clay County
A criminal case from Clay County is filed in the Circuit Court for Clay County, and the court file, kept by the Clerk of Courts, is the record of it that the public may see.
For Clay County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at ujs.sd.gov/court-finder/first-judicial-circuit/clay-county (page title: Clay County | South Dakota Unified Judicial System | SD UJS), phone 605-677-6756, 211 West Main Street Suite #300 Vermillion, SD 57069-0377, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
Statewide, UJS Public Access Record Search is the South Dakota courts' statewide search, with a fee per name.
The South Dakota Criminal History and Your Own Copy
The statewide criminal history kept by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is closed to the public in South Dakota: it is released to its subject and to authorized employers and licensing agencies, and a member of the public uses the court's own case index instead.
To see your own record, the route is a fingerprint-based request to the Division of Criminal Investigation. The state page SearchSystems verified for it is at atg.sd.gov/LawEnforcement/Identification/criminalHistory.aspx.
Arrest Records Kept Locally in Clay County
The Clay County Sheriff's Office and the agency that reports for Vermillion keep the arrest records in Clay County: the report and the booking record of each arrest stay with the agency that made it, separate from the court file and from the state repository.
The FBI's agency list also places one more agency in Clay County: the University of South Dakota (campus police); it keeps the records of its own arrests.
Together, the two agencies in Clay County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 378 arrests to the FBI that year; how each case ended is in the court file, not in the arresting agency's.
The agencies and their counts, year by year, are in Clay County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Clay County in 2025
The two agencies in Clay County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 26 violent and 149 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 175 crimes in 2025 against 185 in 2024. Each reported crime is a report on file with the agency that took it, and each arrest that follows is the start of a criminal record.
The full crime section, agency by agency, is on the Clay County public records guide.
The State's Attorney for Clay County
Charges in Clay County are filed by the State's Attorney, which reviews the arrests of every agency in the county and brings the cases in the Circuit Court for Clay County.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at claycountysd.org/statesattorneysoffice.cfm (page title: Clay County, South Dakota | State's Attorney), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Clay County
Registered sex offenders living in Clay County are listed on the South Dakota Sex Offender Registry, run by the South Dakota Attorney General at sor.sd.gov/Home/Search?d=t. The registry is public and can be searched online.
Registration itself is done in person with the local agency where the registrant lives: the sheriff's office, or the city police in a city with its own department.
Asking an Agency in Clay County for a Record
An arrest report, a booking record or a local criminal history letter comes from the agency that holds it, not from the court.
Under the South Dakota Open Records Law a county office must answer a request within 10 business days, and it may charge copying and staff time. The county records request page SearchSystems verified is at claycountyoem.org/public-information (page title: Public Information Requests | Clay County, South Dakota Emergency Management).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal 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.
Can I search Clay County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at ujs.sd.gov (page title: Clay County | South Dakota Unified Judicial System | SD UJS). Statewide, UJS Public Access Record Search is the South Dakota courts' statewide search, with a fee per name.
How do I get my own South Dakota criminal history?
Through a fingerprint-based request to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
Who prosecutes crimes in Clay County?
The State's Attorney, which files its cases in the Circuit Court for Clay County.
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.