Welcome to the Hughes County Register of Deeds Office.

This office provides several services to the county and is the primary county record-keeping and archival office.  It is also an excellent source for genealogy information.  Your county register of deeds office can most appropriately be thought of as a library of local records.  Most of our records start around 1880. 

Documents brought to the register of deeds are recorded, which is an official method for documenting time and date a legal instrument is placed in to the public record. This is necessary because not only does this office record all instruments brought to them including property deeds, but everything else that affects that property. Instruments affecting property deeds, such as a lien on a house or a mortgage, must be recorded with date, hour, and minute of the recording so as to give notice to the public that another party has an interest in that property. This vital function helps maintain an orderly transfer of title to property. In addition to recording deeds, the register of deeds also records each Mortgage, Satisfaction, Easements, Plat, and Lease which provides a record when doing a thorough title search. Without this local central office to record and maintain these records, society as well as real estate professionals would face an unreliable system for buying and selling property. In this function, the register of deeds office is essential to bankers, abstract companies, real estate agents, land developers, and the public in providing an orderly method for documenting changes in property.

We can issue certified copies of Births, Death and Marriage Records taking place in South Dakota.  The fee is $15.00 per copy.  We can issue by cash, check, money order or credit/debit card.  However there is an additional charge by credit/debit card.

Marriage Licenses are issued by our office.  The fee is $40.00 and the license is good for 90 days.  You must bring your drivers license as proof of ID.