1. Open the official inmate lookup.
2. Enter a surname to begin. No hit? Try a second spelling, an old married name, or each half of a hyphenated surname on its own.
3. Jot down any booking date, ID number and charge you see. Staff ask for those details when you call or send something.
4. Confirm with a person. Call the jail at 864-446-6200 and ask staff to check custody, the charges and any bond.

Under S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3), records naming who sat in a jail during the last three months are open to the public, so the jail can tell you whether someone is there.

Usually the reason is simple. Check these one at a time:

• Still in booking. Fingerprints, photos and paperwork take time. Call 864-446-6200, ask for Booking, and have a birth date ready along with the spelling.
• Out already. Bond court meets at 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., and S.C. Code 22-5-510 gives the jail four hours to free someone once bond is paid.
• Picked up across a county line. A traffic stop in Greenwood or Anderson means that county's jail, not this one.
• Federal charges. Marshals in Greenville track those prisoners from 300 East Washington Street, Room 232, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-232-1566.
• Sent on to state prison. Search the SCDC inmate search instead.
• Under 18. Youth go to state juvenile detention, not the adult jail.

The county keeps one jail for adults after arrest, plus one older listing. Neighboring counties run their own jails for arrests made there.

• Detention Center, the county jail for adults arrested here: 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-446-6200.
• County prison camp, named on a 2019 state prison list as a site for state inmates assigned to local public works under the jail administrator. Ask the jail at the number above whether anyone is held there today.
• Greenwood County Detention Center, 528 Edgefield Street, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-943-8059.
• Anderson County Detention Center, 305 Camson Road, Anderson, SC 29625, 864-260-4363.
• McCormick County Detention Center, 141 Cecil Wall Circle, McCormick, SC 29835, 864-852-0070.
• Johnson Detention Center (Laurens County), 154 Templeton Rd, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-683-4055.

Teens held in secure custody go to the Juvenile Detention Complex in Columbia rather than any of these.

For a booking photo or other jail records, ask the Sheriff's Office at 864-446-6000 what it releases. Reporters can make the same request there. Under the state open records law, an agency has ten working days to answer a written request (S.C. Code 30-4-30(C)).

• A photo ICE took can be requested on ICE's FOIA page.
• Federal agencies normally withhold booking photos. For a wanted fugitive, though, the Marshals may hand a photo to the public.
• Under S.C. Code 17-1-60 (2016 Act No. 132), a website must remove a booking photo for free within 30 days once the person sends, by certified mail, papers showing the charge ended without a conviction: dismissed, expunged or found not guilty.

VINE costs nothing to use. Through VINELink South Carolina, you search for a person in custody, see their status and location, and register for a notice the moment custody changes. The phone line, 866-727-2846, works in English and Spanish and searches by name, offender number or SID number.

Victims can also ask the Sheriff's Office victim advocate, 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-446-6061, for help with notice. Officers must try to tell each victim about an arrest and the bond hearing (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).

A magistrate sets bond at the Magistrate Court's bond court, held daily at 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.; the court office is in the Law Enforcement Center, 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-446-6500. State law requires that hearing inside 24 hours of arrest, and the jail must let the person go within four hours once bond is posted (S.C. Code 22-5-510).

• For most charges the law's default is a recognizance bond. Cash, a bondsman's surety bond, a ten percent deposit or GPS get added when the judge sees a need.
• Murder and other charges carrying life or death need a circuit judge for bond.
• A bondsman's premium is capped at 15 percent and is never refunded (S.C. Code 38-53-170(e)).

Our bond guide for this county covers payment, holds and refunds in detail.

The fastest route is the jail. Call 864-446-6200 and ask for each charge and its bond. After the bond hearing, the case shows on the state's court rosters for this county once a court date is set.

Ask the arresting agency for the incident report. For deputies, that is the Sheriff's Office, 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-446-6000; for city officers, 864-366-5017. Reports describing a crime are public (S.C. Code 30-4-50(A)(8)). Felony papers sit with the Clerk of Court at 102 Court Square, Room 103, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-366-5312.

Speak up for a public defender at bond court. After a sworn statement about income, the court appoints counsel when money falls short (S.C. Code 17-3-10). The $40 application fee can be lowered or waived by the clerk (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

• Public defender serving this county, Greenwood office: 528 Monument Street, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-229-9505.
• South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense: 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

Move fast if you hire a private lawyer. A request for a preliminary hearing is due 10 days after bond court (Rule 2(a), SCRCrimP).

The jail sets the visiting days, the sign-up steps and who may come. Phone 864-446-6200 ahead of your trip and ask:

• When are visitors allowed in?
• Does my name have to be on the person's approved list first?
• Are visits in person, by video from home, or a mix?
• What ID and clothing rules apply at the front desk?

Our jail visitation guide explains how visits generally work.

Money on the books covers things like extra food, soap and phone time. Before sending anything, phone 864-446-6200 and ask staff the current deposit methods, any limit and the fees.

Never mail cash. Deposit options are covered in our inmate money page, and store items in our commissary page.

Ask the Detention Center at 864-446-6200 how calls from the jail work, what phone account a family needs and whether messaging or tablets exist there. Treat every call as if others may be listening, and save the facts of the case for private talks with defense counsel.

How these services usually run is covered on our phone page and messaging page.

The jail's street address is 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620. Before you mail anything, call 864-446-6200 and ask staff which address and ID number go on the envelope and what gets turned away.

• Write out the person's legal name in full.
• Up in the left corner, write your name and return address.
• Never put cash inside.
• Legal mail from a lawyer is handled apart from regular letters.

Our inmate mail page deals with books, photos and packages.

The jail holds clothing, phones, wallets and keys from the time of booking. Phone 864-446-6200, ask for Booking, and learn the pickup times. Ask too whether a signed release is needed so a relative can take the items.

Bring a photo ID. While on the phone, find out how any jail account balance gets refunded.

Call the jail at 864-446-6200 and explain the concern, including any daily medicine or recent injury. Ask how a doctor's note or prescription list can reach the medical staff.

By statute (S.C. Code 24-5-80), counties must give jail inmates basic necessities, medical access included. State corrections inspectors visit each jail yearly or more often (S.C. Code 24-9-10). A lawyer can also raise health needs with the judge.

Deputies working from the Sheriff's Office, 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620, carry out warrants across the county; phone 864-446-6000 and ask for warrants. City police handle them inside city limits at 864-366-5017. State supervision absconders appear on the Most Wanted Offenders page (tips 888-761-6175). Federal fugitives make the Marshals' 15 Most Wanted. Court clerks can search a name too. A warrant gets settled when the person surrenders, lawyer present, at the issuing court, or phones it for a new date. Contacts: the Magistrate Court, 864-446-6500, or the Clerk of Court, 102 Court Square, Room 103, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-366-5312.

The Judicial Branch posts court rosters for this county. Accept the disclaimer, then pick a Court Agency, a Roster Type and a Begin Date. Rosters list hearing dates, not jail locations.

• General Sessions and Family Court: Clerk of Court, 102 Court Square, Room 103, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-366-5312.
• Bond, ticket and summary cases: Magistrate Court, 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-446-6500.

Our county court guide explains each hearing along the way.

Arrests on federal charges here fall under the Greenwood Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Its judges sit in Anderson, Greenville or Spartanburg. Nearest of those is the Anderson courthouse at 315 South McDuffie Street, Anderson, SC 29624, the G. Ross Anderson, Jr. Federal Building. Clerk questions go to Greenville, 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-241-2700.

1. Detention is argued at the first federal court appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Pretrial, the Marshals Service has custody and may board the person in a county jail. Its Anderson office, in that same federal building, answers at 864-232-1566.
3. After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

1. Step one is paper: ICE's Form I-247A, a detainer, reaches the Old Calhoun Falls Road jail.
2. Staff there may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE officers take the person from the jail during that time.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator, searchable with an A-number or with name and native country.
5. Still nothing? Phone ICE's South Carolina office: 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

South Carolina adds its own check (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Jail staff get 72 hours after someone is booked on a criminal charge to verify status; unlawful presence triggers a report to Homeland Security (DHS). At bond court, that status counts, along with flight risk (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

When a sentence runs past three months, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) takes over and chooses the prison (S.C. Code 24-3-20). Shorter ones are usually served in the county jail.

• Use the SCDC inmate search. Its data is as of the prior midnight, and it skips anyone serving county time.
• Reception and evaluation comes first. Expect no face-to-face visits during intake, unless it outlasts 30 days.
• The SC VINE line for custody alerts is 866-727-2846; SCDC headquarters is at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Our South Carolina state prison pages describe each facility.

Under 18 means Family Court in most cases (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). Six hours is the adult-jail limit for any child; for kids ten or younger, jail is off the table entirely (S.C. Code 63-19-820). Weekends and holidays aside, the detention hearing comes within 48 hours (S.C. Code 63-19-830).

• Youth kept locked up go to the state Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440 (visitation line).
• Department of Juvenile Justice county office: 102 Court Square, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-366-5312.

About 24,836 people lived here at the July 1, 2025 Census estimate. Check each agency below:

• Sheriff's Office, which patrols unincorporated areas and towns without a department, such as Lowndesville: 21 Old Calhoun Falls Road, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-446-6000.
• County E-911 dispatch, the non-emergency number for Due West police and Erskine campus police: 903 W. Greenwood Street, Suite 1700, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-366-8451.
• Abbeville Police Department: 100 Court Square, Abbeville, SC 29620, 864-366-5017.
• Calhoun Falls Police Department and Donalds Police Department: reach either through the Sheriff's Office number listed in this answer.
• Due West Police Department: 103 Main Street, Due West, SC 29639, office 864-379-2150.
• Erskine College Police Department: 2 Washington St., Due West, SC 29639, 864-379-8869.
• South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 2: 1801 Bypass 25 SE, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-227-6115.