Ziebach County

The Detention Center

Not found — Ziebach County contracts jail services rather than operating its own facility

• Operated byNot applicable
• Association note"Jail: Contracts jail services" — the SD Sheriffs' Association profile does not name the contracted facility
• 2020 Census correctional facility fileZiebach County is not among the county-run facilities listed, consistent with the association's note that jail services are contracted rather than county-operated
• Tribal jurisdictionZiebach County lies entirely within the Cheyenne River Reservation. South Dakota is a non-Public Law 280 state, so the reservation does not fall under the county sheriff's detention authority — that is the law, not a gap. The 2020 census file lists separate tribal facilities: "Cheyenne River Sioux Adult Detention Center" (2020 census-day population 10) and "Cheyenne River Sioux Juvenile Detention Center" (2).
• Where county (non-tribal) prisoners are actually heldNot established from a source opened this session
• What was triedziebachcounty.org (identified via the SD Association of County Officials directory) was refused by the fetch tool for lack of provenance. A guessed ujs.sd.gov Fourth Judicial Circuit / Ziebach County court-finder URL was also refused.

Source: Prison Gerrymandering Project — South Dakota correctional populations, Census 2020 vintage · 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 — not published
• ✗How to post bond — not published
• ✗Phone, video and commissary rates — not published

This rates disclosure, not conduct — what Ziebach 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
• Original costNot found
• Paid for byNot found
• BedsNot found

The Sheriff

Sheriff Gary Cudmore

• ElectedAssumed office January 2015; SDCL 7-7-1.1 sets a four-year term
• BackgroundOver 23 years in law enforcement, including five years as a Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe police officer and 16 years as a Ziebach County deputy sheriff before election
• ContactPO Box 309, Dupree, SD 57623-0309; 605-365-5177; zcso1c@yahoo.com
• Department sizeTotal staff 2, total deputies 1 (per the association profile)
• Source noteZiebach County's own site (ziebachcounty.org), identified via the SD Association of County Officials directory, could not be fetched this session — see What was tried below.

Source: South Dakota Sheriffs' Association — Ziebach County · checked 2026-08-25

The Judges

South Dakota circuit judges are elected in a nonpolitical election to eight-year terms (SD Constitution Art. V §7; SDCL 16-6-3); vacancies are filled by the Governor from Judicial Qualifications Commission nominees. Many first appearances go instead to an appointed magistrate judge (SDCL 16-12B-1.2) or a clerk magistrate working off a bond schedule (SDCL 16-12C-10), neither of whom is elected. All are state judicial officers, not county officials.

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