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 October 4, 2026.
Meade County, South Dakota, has about 31,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate). A traffic ticket written in Meade County is a court case in the Circuit Court for Meade County, and the conviction it ends in goes on the driving record kept by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety Driver Licensing. This guide says which court takes the ticket, who writes them and where the driving record lives.
This guide covers where tickets go, who writes them, the driving record, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Meade County public records, Meade County arrest records, Meade County warrants, Meade County inmate search, Meade County criminal records, South Dakota arrest records and South Dakota inmate search.
Where a Ticket Written in Meade County Goes
Tickets in Meade County go to the Circuit Court for Meade County. A paid ticket, a dismissal and a trial all end up in that court's records.
For Meade County, SearchSystems opened and checked the court records page for the county at dakotaathome.sd.gov/search/794ef29f-9e31-544e-adc9-d7313c36c767 (page title: Meade County Clerk of Courts | South Dakota Unified Judicial System | Clerk of Courts), phone 605-347-4411, 1425 Sherman Street, Sturgis, SD 57785, 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.
Who Writes the Tickets in Meade County
The Meade County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for Sturgis, Summerset and Faith write the traffic tickets 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 Driving Record and the South Dakota Department of Public Safety Driver Licensing
The driving record is a separate document from the court file. It is kept by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety Driver Licensing, which adds each conviction the court reports and handles suspensions; the court does not issue driving records.
Paying a ticket is a conviction, reported to the South Dakota Department of Public Safety Driver Licensing like any other; contesting it means a plea of not guilty entered with the court by the date on the ticket.
A DUI is a criminal charge rather than a ticket, with its own license case before the Department of Public Safety (see Meade County DUI).
Cities in Meade County
Wherever in the county a ticket is written, it is answered in the Circuit Court for Meade County.
SearchSystems has a guide to the offices of these cities in Meade County, with the 2024 Census Bureau population; a city with its own traffic tickets guide opens there:
- Sturgis (7,014)
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I pay a traffic ticket from Meade County?
With the Circuit Court for Meade County, whose page SearchSystems verified is at dakotaathome.sd.gov, phone 605-347-4411.
Who keeps my driving record in South Dakota?
The South Dakota Department of Public Safety Driver Licensing. The court reports each conviction to it, and paying a ticket counts as one.
Which court handles traffic tickets in Meade County?
The Circuit Court for Meade County, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile case, with magistrate judges taking misdemeanors, traffic and small claims.
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.