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 on September 24, 2026.
Lawrence County, South Dakota, has about 29,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office and four city agencies. 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 Lawrence 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: Lawrence County public records, South Dakota arrest records, South Dakota inmate search and South Dakota criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Lawrence County
The Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Lawrence County. It reported 104 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists four cities in Lawrence County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Spearfish, 13,803 residents: 285 arrests reported for 2025.
- Lead, 3,038 residents: 86 arrests reported for 2025.
- Deadwood, 1,347 residents: 246 arrests reported for 2025.
- Whitewood, 965 residents: 19 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 Lawrence 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.
- Spearfish: 285 for 2025, 316 for 2024, 309 for 2023, 226 for 2022, 232 for 2021 and 355 for 2020.
- Deadwood: 246 for 2025, 221 for 2024, 328 for 2023, 331 for 2022, 378 for 2021 and 280 for 2019; 2020 is missing months.
- Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: 104 for 2025, 94 for 2024, 117 for 2023, 106 for 2022, 98 for 2021 and 86 for 2020.
- Lead: 86 for 2025, 82 for 2024, 107 for 2023, 192 for 2021, 163 for 2020 and 99 for 2019; 2022 is missing months.
- Whitewood: 19 for 2025 and 14 for 2024.
Together, the five agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 740 arrests that year. The same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 740 in 2025 against 727 in 2024, up 1.8 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Lawrence County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Lawrence 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 2023 the jail held about 49 people, up from about 36 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 53 beds, and it ran at 92 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 Lawrence County
An arrest in Lawrence County can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: UJS Public Access Record Search, the South Dakota courts' statewide search, with a fee per name, which shows whether charges were filed; the State's Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lawrence.sd.us/354/States-Attorney, phone 605-578-1707).
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 Lawrence 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 Lawrence County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- An arrest in Spearfish, Lead, Deadwood or Whitewood: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city; the city guides linked above name each city's records office.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the State's Attorney, 605-578-1707, handles discovery for pending cases.
- Your own statewide record: a fingerprint-based request to the Division of Criminal Investigation.
Cities in Lawrence County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for four of the five cities in Lawrence County: Spearfish, Lead, Deadwood and Whitewood. Central City 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 Lawrence County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Lawrence County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own arrest records guide opens there:
- Spearfish (13,803)
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Lawrence County each year?
Spearfish reported 285 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the five agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 740 between them.
Where are people arrested in Lawrence County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Lawrence County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Lawrence 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 Lawrence County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Lawrence 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 Lawrence 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.