SCDJJ Juvenile Detention Complex Inmate Bail & Bonds

In most cases a magistrate does. Under South Carolina law, every arrested person is owed a bond hearing inside of 24 hours from the arrest (S.C. Code 22-5-510). The county has a single magistrate office. Its mailing address is Post Office Box 516, Fairfax, SC 29827, and its phone is 803-584-3755. Phone that office and ask when and where the next hearing sits.

Town judges have power to set and accept bonds as well (S.C. Code 14-25-115). A charge brought by town police may land in one of these courts:

• Town of Allendale Municipal Court, 1296 Main Street South, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-4619
• Fairfax Municipal Court, Post Office Drawer 8, Fairfax, SC 29827, 803-632-3111

Murder follows a separate track. So does every charge where death or life imprisonment is on the table. No magistrate can set that bond. A circuit judge holds the hearing instead, and the wait is often longer (S.C. Code 22-5-510(A)).

Outside capital cases, South Carolina presumes a personal recognizance release first (S.C. Code 17-15-10). The judge then chooses among these:

• Personal recognizance. The accused signs a written pledge to attend court. No cash changes hands at the start.
• Cash bond. A family member or friend pays the full sum, which the court holds for the life of the case. A magistrate or town judge may accept the cash deposit in place of a signed pledge (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Surety bond. For a fee, a licensed bondsman signs on to cover the whole sum if the person runs.
• Ten percent deposit. Only if the judge agrees: a cash payment to the clerk, capped at 10 percent of the bond, stands in for the full sum. Violent cases don't qualify. Neither does a gun felony charged while the person was free on an earlier bond (S.C. Code 17-15-15).
• GPS monitor. An ankle bracelet can stand in for bond money or be added to a bond (S.C. Code 17-15-35).

Release nearly always comes with conditions, like keeping out of trouble and not leaving South Carolina (S.C. Code 17-15-20).

No fixed price list decides bond. At the hearing, a number gets picked, weighing who the person is and what they are accused of. To learn the amount for your person, call the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067 once the hearing is over. State law points the judge to these factors (S.C. Code 17-15-30):

• what the charge is and how serious
• family, work, finances and years spent living locally
• earlier convictions and any history of skipping court
• open cases elsewhere, or a bond the person already has on another charge
• whether the state gang database lists them

The possible sentence weighs heavily. Third-degree assault and battery tops out at 30 days, so a modest bond or a signed pledge is common (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2)). A Class A felony carries as much as 30 years (S.C. Code 16-1-20), so bond tends to be large or denied.

Some quick math: on a $5,000 bond, a 10 percent deposit equals $500, and the most a bondsman may charge is $750.

Make one phone call before you drive anywhere. Then work through this list:

1. Dial the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067 and say you need the jail.
2. Read off the legal name and birthday. Request the bond type, the dollar amount and which charges it covers.
3. Learn which office takes the money: jail, magistrate or Clerk of Court.
4. Ask which payments are taken today. Bringing a money order? Find out whose name goes on it.
5. Ask whether any other agency or court has placed a hold.
6. Carry photo ID and the exact sum. Save each receipt you are given.

Jail staff get a four-hour window, counted from delivery of the bond, to complete the release (S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)).

Often, yes. The right office depends on the kind of bond and which court set it:

• Magistrate office, Post Office Box 516, Fairfax, SC 29827, 803-584-3755. A cash deposit can be made here in place of a signed pledge. Ask for the street location before heading over.
• Clerk of Court, county courthouse, Court House Square, 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-2737. When a judge okays the 10 percent option, the deposit is made here.
• Town of Allendale Municipal Court, Town Hall, 1296 Main Street South, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-4619. Town Hall keeps weekday hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Phone ahead to make sure the office can accept bond that day, and ask what papers to bring.

Get an answer by phone first. Try the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067 or the magistrate at 803-584-3755. Ask which payments work for bond and whether any fee is added. Families often bring a money order or cashier's check, but the office's answer comes first.

On its court page, the Town of Allendale links an online service, NCourt, where traffic tickets and town fines can be settled by card. It handles fines only, not bond. Fines can also be paid in person at Town Hall, since the town police no longer take them.

Keep cash out of envelopes. If a stranger calls demanding that you wire bond money, end the call.

The South Carolina Department of Insurance licenses every bondsman (Title 38, Chapter 53). Before signing anything, check these points:

• State law caps a bondsman's fee, the premium, at 15 percent of the bond. The minimum charge is $100 or 10 percent, whichever is larger (S.C. Code 38-53-170(e)).
• Payment plans require at least $100 up front and must end within 18 months.
• That fee is earned by the bondsman and is never refunded.
• Bondsmen are barred from hunting for business in courtrooms, magistrate offices and jails. They also can't tell you which lawyer to hire.
• Pledged property, a car title for instance, goes back within ten days after the bond closes, unless a bench warrant holds it up.

Report a problem bondsman to the South Carolina Department of Insurance, 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-6160.

A bond covers only the charges it was set for. Before handing over money, have the jail list every hold on the person. These come up most:

• A second case. Charges in a town court and in county court need separate bonds.
• An outside warrant. Somebody else's warrant, from out of county or out of state, comes first.
• Supervision. A probation or parole agent may request that they be held. The county's state probation office sits at 398 Barnwell Highway, Suite 101, Allendale, SC 29810, and the agency's line is 803-734-9220.
• A fresh violent arrest. A second violent or gun felony charge, landed while free on bond for the first, automatically revokes that first bond. A circuit judge then holds a hearing on it within 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).
• Federal or ICE holds. State bond leaves these in place.

Ask about holds by calling the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067.

Under South Carolina's constitution, bail is a right for most defendants. After weighing the proof, a judge may refuse it for capital offenses, life-sentence offenses and violent offenses listed in statute. Bail can't be set at an excessive level (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15).

Murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and the top two degrees of burglary are all on the state's violent offense list (S.C. Code 16-1-60). Leaving murder aside, since a circuit judge alone sets bond there, a magistrate has the choice to set bond or to deny it on those charges.

The 14th Circuit Solicitor's office speaks for the state at bond hearings. The local branch is at 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 843-779-8665. Call ahead for office hours.

After giving notice and holding a hearing, the court can add, remove or adjust bond conditions (S.C. Code 17-15-50). A circuit judge may also take a second look at a bond set by a summary court on a General Sessions charge (S.C. Code 17-15-55).

1. Have your lawyer put the request in writing.
2. Collect proof of steady work, a local address, nearby family and what the family can truly afford.
3. Propose GPS tracking or other terms that ease the court's worries.
4. Call the Clerk of Court at 803-584-2737 to learn how bond motions are scheduled.

The local public defender works from the Annex Building at Court House Square, 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810. The number is 803-914-2242, and the office is part of the 14th Judicial Circuit.

To get appointed counsel, the person signs a sworn financial affidavit. A $40 application fee applies, and the clerk may cut or drop it for a person without the money (S.C. Code 17-3-30). The judge at the bond hearing can tell the person how to apply.

Statewide oversight comes from the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

Cases from here can land in four local courts and one federal court:

• Court of General Sessions (felonies and serious misdemeanors), Clerk of Court, Court House Square, 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-2737. Its mailing address is PO Box 126, Allendale, SC 29810.
• Magistrate Court (bond hearings and minor charges), Post Office Box 516, Fairfax, SC 29827, 803-584-3755.
• Town of Allendale Municipal Court, 1296 Main Street South, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-4619.
• Fairfax Municipal Court, Post Office Drawer 8, Fairfax, SC 29827, 803-632-3111.
• Federal cases go to the federal building in Columbia named for Matthew J. Perry, Jr., the U.S. Courthouse at 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-5816.

Before visiting the magistrate or the Fairfax court, phone for a street address.

Money posted with a court is returned when the bond is discharged, typically at the end of the case with every date kept (S.C. Code 17-15-220). A 10 percent deposit also comes back then, less any restitution the victim is owed (S.C. Code 17-15-15). Hold on to the receipt. Whatever a bondsman charged stays with the bondsman.

Skipping court has a price:

• Expect a bench warrant, meaning the court orders an arrest.
• The surety forfeits the bond if 90 days go by with no surrender after that warrant (S.C. Code 38-53-70).
• No-showing on purpose adds a new crime. Skipping court on felony bond risks five years plus a $5,000 fine (S.C. Code 17-15-90).

To claim a refund, contact the court that holds the money. On General Sessions cases, the Clerk of Court answers at 803-584-2737.

Sort out cash and belongings ahead of release when you can. Call the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067, ask for the jail and ask how the remaining account balance gets refunded and when personal items may be collected.

Photo ID is needed at pickup. When collecting for another person, ask whether that person has to sign a release. Our inmate money guide explains deposits and refunds in more depth.

For federal prosecutions, Allendale sits in the Aiken Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Its hearings are in Columbia, at 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-5816.

• A judge settles jail or release at the first appearance. At the defense's request it may be postponed five days; at the prosecution's, three (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Federal detainees awaiting trial are in Marshals Service custody. Office: 901 Richland Street, Suite 1300, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-5821. They can say which jail is housing someone.
• After a federal prison sentence, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

A detainer from immigration stays in force after state bond is paid. The steps usually run like this:

1. The detainer arrives as Form I-247A.
2. That hold can last up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. South Carolina jails get 72 hours after booking to run a status check on each person jailed for a crime. If the check shows unlawful presence, the jail alerts Homeland Security (S.C. Code 23-3-1100).
4. At the bond hearing, the judge must think about unlawful presence and the chance the person flees (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).
5. ICE's office for this state is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
6. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator using their name and birth country.

Jail terms of three months or under are normally done in the county facility (S.C. Code 24-3-30). Anything longer sends the person into the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and SCDC chooses where (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

• Every new state inmate passes through reception and evaluation first. Face-to-face visits wait until that process ends, unless it lasts beyond 30 days.
• The SCDC inmate search covers state prisoners only. County jail inmates are left out.
• SCDC is headquartered at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Look up each prison's visiting and mail rules through our South Carolina state prisons page.

Allendale Correctional Institution near Fairfax belongs to SCDC and is not the county jail. Its address is 1057 Revolutionary Trail, Fairfax, SC 29827, 803-632-2561.

Family Court, not adult court, takes most cases for anyone younger than 18. A 17-year-old facing certain serious felonies is treated as an adult (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)).

• State law bars keeping a child in an adult jail beyond six hours. A child of ten or younger can't be jailed (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• Two business days is the deadline for a detention hearing, measured as 48 hours that skip weekends and holidays (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Before that hearing, most detained youths stay at DJJ's Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440.
• The Department of Juvenile Justice office for this county is at 603 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-4751. Parents should call there first.