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 October 4, 2026.
Meade County, South Dakota, has about 31,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A person kept in custody after an arrest in Meade County is held at the county jail, run by the Meade County Sheriff's Office, and the jail's record of each person held is a public record. This guide says where to look for someone in custody, what the jail holds and who books people into it.
This guide covers the search, the jail, who books people, state prison and common questions.
Related guides: Meade County public records, Meade County arrest records, Meade County warrants, Meade County criminal records, Meade County court records, South Dakota arrest records and South Dakota inmate search.
Finding Someone in Custody in Meade County
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Meade County is held at the county jail, run by the Meade County Sheriff's Office, whichever agency made the arrest.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Meade County Sheriff's Office at meadecounty.org/sheriffs-office (page title: Sheriff | County of Meade), phone 605.347.2681, 1400 Main Street, Sturgis, SD 57785, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
That page is the office's jail information page rather than a roster, so a search for a particular person goes through the office at 605.347.2681.
The Meade County Jail by the Numbers
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 37 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 57 beds, and it ran at 65 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
Meade County has about 31,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), so the jail holds about 12 people for every 10,000 residents.
Who Books People Into the Meade County Jail
The Meade County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Sturgis, Summerset and Faith make the arrests that end in a booking in Meade County.
The Box Elder Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Meade County, so its arrests are not broken out for Meade County here.
The largest arrest counts reported to the FBI were Sturgis's 584 for 2024, the Meade County Sheriff's Office's 238 for 2024 and Summerset's 76 for 2025.
Together, the three agencies in Meade County with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 875 arrests to the FBI that year. Those kept in custody were booked into the county jail; a person cited and released at the scene was not.
The counts, agency by agency and year by year, are in Meade County arrest records.
From the Jail to State Prison
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison, not the jail; the South Dakota Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.sd.gov/adult-corrections/offender-locator.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I find an inmate in Meade County?
Ask the Meade County Sheriff's Office at 605.347.2681; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at meadecounty.org/sheriffs-office.
How many people are in the Meade County jail?
About 37 on an average day in 2019, the latest year in the Vera Institute's jail data, against a rated capacity of 57 beds.
What is the phone number for the Meade County jail?
605.347.2681, the number on the page of the Meade County Sheriff's Office SearchSystems verified.
Where do people sentenced to prison in Meade County go?
To a facility of the South Dakota Department of Corrections; its inmate locator is at doc.sd.gov/adult-corrections/offender-locator.
Is this the official Meade 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.