Hand County

The Detention Center

Not found

• Operated byNone found operating in Hand County — the county holds published prisoner-housing agreements with other counties instead
• Where prisoners goHand County's own Agreements, Bids & Contracts page lists a "Prisoner Housing Agreement with Beadle County" (dated 2022.01.04, renewed 2025.01.07) and "2026 Adult Prisoner Housing Agreement[s]" with Hughes County and Charles Mix County (both dated 2025.12.02), plus a 2026 Juvenile Detention Housing Agreement with Hughes County — the underlying documents are Google Drive links that could not themselves be opened, but their titles and dates are published on the county's own page
• Historic jail buildingA separate "Hand County Courthouse and Jail" building at 415 W. First Ave., Miller (courthouse 1927, jail/residence 1931, Art Deco, Bedford stone, NRHP-listed 1994) exists per Wikipedia; whether it is still in any operational use was not established from a source opened
• Not in 2020 Census facility listHand County does not appear among the county jails counted in the Prison Gerrymandering Project's republished 2020 Census facility file cited in the state-layer research, consistent with holding no county-run jail

Source: Hand County, SD — Agreements, Bids & Contracts · checked 2026-08-25

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

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Hand 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 any currently operating facility; a separate 1931 "Hand County Courthouse and Jail" building (Art Deco, NRHP-listed 1994) exists at 415 W. First Ave., Miller, but its current operational status was not confirmed
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Shane R. Croeni

• Runs the jailNot applicable to a Hand County-operated facility — see below; the sheriff is the statutory jailer under SDCL 24-11-13
• How the office is filledElected countywide, four-year term (SDCL 7-7-1.1)
• Office address415 West 1st Avenue, Suite 102, Miller, SD 57362-1342

Source: Hand County, SD — Sheriff's Office · checked 2026-08-25

The Judges

South Dakota circuit judges are elected in a nonpartisan election for an eight-year term (S.D. Const. Art. V, section 7; SDCL 16-6-3); a mid-term vacancy is filled by the Governor from two or more nominees of the Judicial Qualifications Commission. Magistrate judges, who in practice handle most rural first appearances and bail-setting under SDCL 16-12B-7, are not elected: the presiding judge of the circuit nominates them and the Supreme Court approves or disapproves the appointment (SDCL 16-12B-1.2); full-time magistrates serve four-year terms, part-time magistrates serve at the presiding judge's pleasure (SDCL 16-12B-1.3). Named circuit or magistrate judges for Hand County were not located from any source opened.

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 →
• Where the jail money is decidedAgendas and minutes →