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South Dakota has a statewide criminal record search program. Criminal cases will be available for request as long as they have not been sealed. The current files on the South Dakota UJS system are from 1989 to present.
What Are Criminal Records?
Your criminal records are a complete history of your interactions with the police and court system. Criminal records may include your name, aliases, past addresses, current address and other identifying information. Some even have your photograph.
Your criminal records may include information such as:
- Current charges
- Pending charges
- Past arrest information
- Acquittals
- Dismissals
- Warrants
- Misdemeanors
- Felonies
How Are Criminal Records Used?
Your criminal records say a lot about who you are. They’re used for many purposes.
Background checks are used to make sure you are who you say you are and that an employer or institution is clear on your history. Your background may be viewed for the purposes of:
- Employment
- Voter registration
- Visa applications
- International travel
- For law enforcement purposes
- Purchasing weapons or firearms
- Military service
- Fostering
- Adopting
- School admittance
- Property rental
- Security clearance
How Can Someone Access Your Criminal Records?
To access your criminal records, the Public Access Record Search, or PARS, must be used. Each time someone wants to access a file, they will need to enter a person’s name and date of birth.
General Public
The general public may look at the PARS system freely. The public is charged a fee of $20 for each search that is completed. To search for someone’s records, the public has to have access to that person’s last name and date of birth. The Record Search Report is mailed to the person’s email, so they must input one into the system.
Sex Crimes
The South Dakota Sex Offender Registry contains information about those who have committed sex crimes in South Dakota. The 2006 South Dakota State Legislature made this sex offender registry open to public search.
The search allows the public to search by neighborhood or text. They may exclude incarcerated offenders, absconders and unlocatable offenders or choose to show those individuals.
With a text search, the user may search by alias, address, last name, first name, city, county or zip code. With the neighborhood search, it’s possible to search by city or specific address. You may also set up a search radius from the location that you include in the search.
How Can You Request a Criminal Record?
You may request a criminal record through the PARS system. The fee is always $20, even if no results come back, so it’s important to make sure you have the right information before you request the records. Civil and criminal records may be obtained through the South Dakota Court Records Email as well, if you complete an application. It also costs $20 per name. If you need court records, you are best off going to the specific county court. However, you can ask for a search as well.