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 October 4, 2026.
Union County, South Dakota, has about 17,000 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 Union 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: Union County public records, Union County arrest records, Union County warrants, Union County inmate search, Union County court records, South Dakota arrest records and South Dakota inmate search.
Criminal Cases in the Circuit Court for Union County
In South Dakota the public criminal record is the court file. Criminal cases from Union County are heard by the Circuit Court for Union County, which hears every civil, criminal, family, probate and juvenile case, with magistrate judges taking misdemeanors, traffic and small claims, and the file of each case is kept by the Clerk of Courts.
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at dakotaathome.sd.gov/search/a8ac8af5-881e-580b-8fa8-4a6d98d763ac (page title: Union County Clerk of Courts | South Dakota Unified Judicial System | Clerk of Courts), phone 605-356-2132, 209 E. Main Street, Suite 230, Elk Point, SD 57025, 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
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 file in the Circuit Court for Union County is the public record.
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 Union County
The Union County Sheriff's Office and the agencies that report for North Sioux City, Beresford, Elk Point and Jefferson keep the arrest records in Union 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.
Together, the four agencies in Union County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 323 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 Union County arrest records.
The Crimes Behind the Records: Union County in 2025
The four agencies in Union County with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 18 violent and 109 property crimes to the FBI that year; the same agencies with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 127 crimes in 2025 against 114 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 Union County public records guide.
The State's Attorney for Union County
Charges in Union 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 Union County.
The office's page SearchSystems verified is at unioncountysd.gov/states-attorney/purpose-and-mission (page title: Union County, South Dakota | Purpose & Mission), phone (605) 356-2666, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 30, 2026.
The Sex Offender Registry for Union County
Registered sex offenders living in Union 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 Union 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 unioncountysd.gov/register-of-deeds/recordsrequest (page title: RecordsRequest | Union County, South Dakota).
Frequently Asked Questions
Are criminal records public in Union County?
The court files of criminal cases in the Circuit Court for Union 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 Union County criminal cases online?
The court records page SearchSystems verified for the county is at dakotaathome.sd.gov (page title: Union County Clerk of Courts | South Dakota Unified Judicial System | Clerk of Courts). 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 Union County?
The State's Attorney, reached at (605) 356-2666, which files its cases in the Circuit Court for Union County.
Is this the official Union 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.