The Clay County SD Jail is located in South Dakota and takes in new arrests and detainees are who are delivered daily - call 605-677-7117 for the current roster. Law enforcement and police book offenders from Clay County and nearby cities and towns. Some offenders may stay less than one day or only for a few days until they are released in a court proceeding, some after putting up a bond and then are released to a pretrial services caseload under supervision by the court, or are released on their own recognizance with an agreement to appear in court.
The jail is divided into "pods," each of which includes individual cells, common areas, and an outside recreation court — a space bound by towering concrete walls. All meals, are approved by a dietitian. Common area tables are made of solid steel with attached four seats. Inmates crowd around the tables playing cards or board games like chess and checkers. Inside the cells, there is only a sliver of a window allows inmates to peer out. There are two to three inmates per cell, The jail is crowded at about 90 percent capacity and this population varies day-to-day sometimes over-crowded. There are a number of people who arrive at the jail actively or recently drunk or high, or arrive with injuries from fights/assaults that led to their arrest, and/or are mentally ill with no other place for law enforcement to deliver them. This makes the intake process challenging for the jail’s staff and its medical personnel.
How do I find my family member's booking number?
Search InmateAid's inmate locator or call 605-677-7117. The booking number is assigned at intake and appears in the facility's records once booking is complete.
The booking number is required for phone accounts, commissary deposits, mail, and visitation registration. Get it first - everything else depends on it.
Why isn't my family member showing up in the inmate search yet?
Large jails process hundreds of intakes daily. At Clay Co Jail, the intake process takes 12 to 24 hours and records typically update within 2 to 4 hours of housing assignment. If the arrest was recent, the booking is likely still in progress. Try again in 4 to 6 hours before concluding they are not there.
How long does booking take at Clay Co Jail?
The intake process at a facility this size typically takes 12 to 24 hours from arrest to housing assignment. During that window, phone access and visitation registration are not yet available. Once housing is assigned, those systems open up.
What is the difference between Clay Co Jail and a state prison?
Clay Co Jail is a county jail - it holds people awaiting trial, awaiting bail, or serving sentences under one year. State prisons hold people serving sentences of one year or more after conviction. If your family member is sentenced to more than one year, they will be transferred from Clay Co Jail to a South Dakota state prison. The booking number does not follow them to the state system - a new DOC number is assigned at state intake.
Does Clay Co Jail offer video visitation?
Contact 605-677-7117 to ask whether video visitation is currently available and how to schedule it.
How do I find out if someone has an outstanding warrant in Clay County?
You can also search for warrants and arrest records online or contact 605-677-7117 directly.
A facility the size of Clay Co Jail processes more people in a week than many county jails see in a year. That scale means the systems are there - the online search, the documented phone provider, the commissary portal, the visitation registration. The challenge is not finding the information. It is knowing which system to start with and in what order. Booking number first. Phone account second. Visitation registration third. Everything else follows.
InmateAid was built to give families that sequence at the moment they need it most. Use us.