Custer County Sheriff

09/03/2026

**update**. The fire has been contained. Please continue to avoid the area while crews mop up over the next 12 hours. **Update**

There is a fire burning east of Red Valley Rd. Local, state, federal and air assets are working on the fire. Please avoid the area especially with drones.

09/02/2026

Sgt Steele recently completed Command Leadership. CLI is one of a three part series of courses by FBI-LEEDA to mold strong, legal and ethical Law Enforcement Supervisors.

We are proud to recognize the law enforcement professionals representing 10 agencies who came together in Box Elder, South Dakota, for the Command Leadership Institute (CLI). The class shared a productive week of discussion, insight, and collaboration centered on command-level leadership principles.

A special thank you to Police Chief Robert Connell and the Box Elder Police Department for hosting the course, with additional appreciation to Lieutenant Chris Misselt for coordinating the daily logistics.

Instructor Darryl McSwain guided the class through thoughtful discussions and practical exercises throughout the week. Congratulations to every student on completing this important step in your leadership development!

08/24/2026

Every year law enforcement agencies across the country do a semi uniform press release for Labor Day with facts related to drunk driving and this year is no different. I have attached that release. With that all said, I want to bring it closer to everyone and speak about an incident here in Custer County.

On July 1st this year, a little before 6pm, a family of four was traveling down a highway here in Custer County in their SUV. All of a sudden life changed when a blue car crossed over the center line into their lane and slammed into them head on.

The driver of the SUV was rushed to Rapid City in a helicopter while the other three family members were transported by ambulance.

Thankfully, all of the SUV occupants survived but the lingering question of why did they get hit remained. The answer to that question will never be known as the driver, and sole occupant, of the blue car died in the crash.

What we do know is that the driver of the blue car had a Blood Alcohol Content at the time of the crash of .154. Not double, or triple the legal limit as headlines like to boast, but that doesn't matter as the results are the same. A person drove legally intoxicated and changed the lives of an innocent family he never knew as well as his own family.

So, even if you don't care about the legal consequences or your own safety, please think about the innocent family driving down the roadway and find a sober driver.

08/23/2026

🚨🥳WE MADE THE FINAL TWO! 🥳🚨

Words cannot express how incredible, humbled, and grateful we feel right now. Thanks to an overwhelming show of support, Friends of Custer County Search and Rescue has officially made it to the FINAL TWO in the Search and Rescue category of the Land Rover Defender Service Awards!

This entire competition came down to votes, and we are here because of YOU.

To everyone in Custer, across the Black Hills, and around the country who cast a vote every single day, shared our posts, pestered their family and friends, and rallied behind our all-volunteer responder team—this is your victory. You brought us to the top two, and we are honored to serve a community that backs us like this.

What’s Next? ✈️☀️

The final winner of the customized Defender 130 and $30,000 grant package will be officially announced live on stage at the Destination Defender banquet in California on Saturday, September 12th!

We originally asked our longest-serving active team member, Paul Horsted, to represent us at the awards ceremony, but he isn't able to make the trip. So, stepping up on behalf of the entire team, our SECOND longest-serving active member, Jim "Buzz" Laverick, will be flying out to California to represent Custer County Search and Rescue!

No matter what happens in California, standing in the top two out of the incredible Search and Rescue organizations across the entire nation is a massive achievement—and it only happened because of your unwavering dedication.

Thank you, Custer County! Wish us luck as Buzz heads West, and stay tuned for the big announcement on September 12th! 🌲🚑✨

08/23/2026

A message from Jim “Buzz” Laverik, our second-longest serving active member and our delegate to the Defender award ceremonies in California on September 12. It was originally a comment on our original post about getting into the top two, but we are reposting here with his permission because perspective this thoughtful shouldn’t be buried in the comments.

Buzz’s comment:

I am both humbled and honored to have been chosen for this mission. In my 23 years on the team, on any given day I could say that I am serving with one of the finest groups that I have worked with.

By my rough calculation there are over a hundred former members that cycled through during that time and we have always been able to attract the most talented, dedicated, caring and energetic people. They come to serve, to help and they ask nothing in return, not for pay but for the look in the face of the mother who’s lost child we have just found, the injured person having one of the worst days in their life - their look as the panic has vanished and they understanding that help is here, the family in a smoke filled canyon being led to safety.

When I joined the team, our equipment was what we had at home and what we could beg or borrow - hand me downs from Pennington County, Military surplus, and County equipment that was going to be disposed of. We have always had incredible, that is phenomenal support and thanks from our community. It has been both heartwarming and deeply appreciated.

But the Non-Profit Friends of Custer County Search and Rescue have turned that community support into equipment, clothing, and many other things that make our jobs easier and give us the tools to do it better.

Recently coming under the Sheriff’s Office has solidified a bond forged in trust and aid over many years has given us standing in a role that we have filled without that authority.

I have served under three Directors and each successive leader has built upon a sound and flourishing foundation to an organization that is remarkable.

I am just a small part of that team. We came to this point in large part through the efforts of Nora, Sam and Paul - who I believe got us in the running. Afterwards it was the network of our community, their friends and neighbors, our friends and neighbors far and wide - that got us to this juncture.

It was, to me, a great honor just to have made the final 5, and I consider it an even greater honor to be cast in the same sentence with Bighorn County Search and Rescue.

Thanks to everyone.
Buzz

08/22/2026

08/19/2026

We are aware that the scam is going around again that people have warrants and must pay in gift cards. DO NOT FALL FOR THIS!!! No one that is legitimate takes payment via gift cards, especially the government on a warrant. If someone asks for payment over the phone, just don't do it. Hang up, look up the number yourself for the business or government agency and call them to verify they are real.

08/19/2026

🇺🇸Sheriff Derrick Reifenrath signed the Law Enforcement Services Contract between Custer County and the City of Custer that was approved at today’s special Commission meeting🇺🇸