Clay County

The Detention Center

Clay County Jail

• Operated byClay County Sheriff's Office (Sheriff Andy Howe)
• Address1250 Stanford St, Vermillion, SD 57069
• Current operating statusOperates as a short-term holdover jail only, holding arrestees up to 72 hours, because of 'safety concerns, and incurable space deficiencies' (as stated on the site, as of 2021); longer-term inmates are housed in other counties' jails at Clay County's expense
• New facilityVoters approved a $42.8 million bond in 2022 for a new jail and law enforcement center; construction was expected to begin in 2023 with completion targeted for 2025. Current build status not independently reconfirmed this session.
• RosterA 'Current Inmates' link on the sheriff's site points to a third-party records platform (centralsquarecloudgov.com), not a page on the county's own domain — not counted as the county publishing
• 2020 Census custodial population14 people on April 1, 2020 (a one-day snapshot, not a bed count)

Source: Clay County, SD Sheriff — About Us · checked 2026-08-25

• ✓The jail is named
• ✗Who is in custody — not published
• ✗Beds and daily population — not published
• ✓What it costs taxpayers
• ✗Deaths in custody — not published
• ✗PREA audits — not published
• ✗Independent inspection — not published
• ✗Who else it holds, and for how much — not published
• ✗How to post bond — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Clay County publishes about a jail its taxpayers own, checked 2026-08-25. Nothing here says the jail is run well or badly. Every mark moves the moment the county posts the document.

The Building

You paid for it. Here is what the record says it cost.

• Year builtNot found for the current holdover facility
• Original costNew facility funded by a $42.8 million bond approved by voters in 2022
• Paid for byVoter-approved bond (2022)
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Andy Howe

• ContractsWakonda and Irene contract with the Clay County Sheriff for law enforcement services
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (SDCL 7-7-1.1)

Source: Clay County, SD Sheriff — About Us · checked 2026-08-25

The Judges

South Dakota circuit judges are elected nonpartisan for an eight-year term (SD Const. Art. V §7; SDCL 16-6-3). Full-time magistrate judges are nominated by the circuit's presiding judge and approved by the Supreme Court (SDCL 16-12B-1.2). No county-specific judge names were located from a source opened this session.

Source: the state judiciary · checked 2026-08-25

The County Commissioners

They pay for the jail. The sheriff runs it.

• What they controlThe detention budget, the building itself, and the agreements that let other agencies rent its beds.
• What they don'tDay-to-day operations. The sheriff is separately elected and answers to voters, not to the board.
• The boardBoard of County Commissioners →