Butte County, South Dakota Genealogy Records

Listed record inventories

Selected holdings and indexes for Butte County, checked against the repository descriptions linked below. Date spans may contain gaps; an index is not a complete set of original records.

See the repository's descriptions and search options

Repository access note: Selected newspaper titles cataloged by the Library of Congress with explicit county geography. Priority is given to titles beginning by 1950; up to five later titles are included where no earlier dated title is listed for that county. Dates describe publication history, not the issues available at a library. Multiple format records with the same title, place and dates are grouped. The catalog may describe paper, microfilm or online resources. Open ends and the word Current reflect the catalog description; confirm present availability and exact holdings with the libraries listed on the linked record.

Sources: the catalogs and repository descriptions linked on the entries above. Selected inventories do not establish complete coverage of every record type or online access to original documents. Read the repository access note for source dates and limitations.

Where to find the records

• Butte County official website

  Hours, addresses and phone numbers for the register of deeds and the clerk of courts, and any online record search the county offers.

• The register of deeds

  Deeds and other land records, marriage licenses, and births and deaths registered in the county.

• The clerk of courts

  Probate (wills and estates), divorces and naturalizations.

• The South Dakota State Archives

  In Pierre: county records, state censuses and newspapers.

• South Dakota State Archivesfree

  The state archives in Pierre, with county records, state censuses, newspapers and photographs.

• FamilySearch Catalogfree

  Search by place for "South Dakota, Butte" to find filmed and digitized records, many viewable free online with a FamilySearch account.

Offices change their hours and access rules; call before you visit.

Boundaries and parent counties

Formed from: Lawrence County, Mandan County (Dakota Territory, extinct)

Check the parent county for earlier records: Lawrence County

Later formed partly from Butte County: Perkins County

Records stay with the county that created them. If your ancestor lived here before 1883, search the parent county. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries shows each boundary change.