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. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 30, 2026.
Hanson County, South Dakota, has about 3,500 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Hanson County Sheriff's Office. 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 Hanson 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: Hanson County public records, South Dakota arrest records, South Dakota inmate search and South Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Hanson County
The Hanson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Hanson County. It reported 11 arrests for 2020, its latest complete year.
How Many Arrests The Hanson County Sheriff's Office Reports
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.
- Hanson County Sheriff's Office: 11 for 2020 and 23 for 2019.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Hanson County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Hanson 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.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Hanson County Sheriff's Office at hansoncountysd.gov/sheriffs-department (page title: Sheriff’s Office | Hanson County, South Dakota), phone (605) 239-4409, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 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 Hanson County
An arrest in Hanson County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the case index of the Circuit Court for Hanson County, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at dakotaathome.sd.gov/search/0776b45c-2960-5ac7-ba4f-fbe6658d6717, phone 605-239-4446); the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at hansoncountysd.gov/states-attorney, phone 605-996-7551).
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 Hanson 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 Hanson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (605) 239-4409.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 605-996-7551, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Circuit Court for Hanson County, through the court records page at dakotaathome.sd.gov, phone 605-239-4446.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Hanson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists no city in Hanson County with an arrest reporting agency of its own; the counts above are the county agencies'.
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 Hanson County.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Hanson County each year?
The Hanson County Sheriff's Office reported 11 arrests to the FBI for 2020, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Hanson County?
Ask the Hanson County Sheriff's Office at (605) 239-4409; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at hansoncountysd.gov/sheriffs-department.
Where are people arrested in Hanson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Hanson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Hanson County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Hanson 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 Hanson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Hanson 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 Hanson 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.