Work through this list to locate someone held by the county:

1. Load the official inmate lookup.
2. Search a surname by itself. Narrow a long list by adding a first name.
3. No hit? Spell it another way, or use a maiden name or nickname.
4. Note the booking number when the page lists one. Staff use it to pull records quickly.
5. Confirm what you see with jail staff through the Sheriff's Office, 803-584-7067.

South Carolina treats records naming people confined in a jail as public (S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3)). Staff can tell you whether your person is there.

Common reasons for a blank result:

• Booking in progress. Fingerprinting and intake paperwork take a while.
• Already out. Bond hearings happen within 24 hours, and many people leave soon after (S.C. Code 22-5-510).
• Taken elsewhere. If another county wanted them on a warrant, that county's jail may have them.
• State, federal or ICE custody. Those systems have their own searches, explained further down.
• A minor. Youths go to a juvenile facility instead.

For a fast, sure answer, dial the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067.

Adults arrested by any local agency are held at the county Detention Center. To learn where it is and whether your person is inside, phone the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067.

Allendale Correctional Institution, 1057 Revolutionary Trail, Fairfax, SC 29827, 803-632-2561, is something else. That prison belongs to SCDC and houses people already serving state sentences, not people awaiting trial on county charges.

When the arrest happened near a border with another county, check these jails as well:

• Barnwell County Detention Center, 330 Calhoun Street, Barnwell, SC 29812, 803-541-0283
• Bamberg County Detention Center, 444 Second Street, Bamberg, SC 29003, 803-245-3020
• Hampton County Detention Center, 409 Cemetery Road, Varnville, SC 29944, 803-914-2223

Whether a booking photo can be shared is a question for the Sheriff's Office, 803-584-7067. Don't expect the lookup to carry pictures.

• A 2016 state law helps people cleared of a charge. They can send a website a certified letter, and the site must then remove the booking photo within 30 days at no cost (S.C. Code 17-1-60). This applies when the charge was dropped, erased from the record or ended in not guilty.
• To seek an ICE booking photo, use ICE's records request page.
• Mugshots from federal arrests seldom come out, except during a manhunt.

South Carolina's VINE service is free. On VINELink South Carolina, you can search a name, see custody status and the holding facility, and register for a call, text or email when anything changes. The phone line, 866-727-2846, works in English and Spanish.

Nobody is signed up for you. Check with the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067 on whether the county jail feeds VINE. Crime victims can also ask the jail to tell them about a release (S.C. Code 16-3-1530).

Within 24 hours of arrest, a magistrate or town judge holds a bond hearing (S.C. Code 22-5-510). The county magistrate answers at 803-584-3755 and gets mail at Post Office Box 516, Fairfax, SC 29827.

• State law begins from release on a signed promise for most charges (S.C. Code 17-15-10).
• Only a circuit judge sets bond in murder cases and other cases that could end in life imprisonment.
• Once bond is in, the jail has four hours to free the person.

For bond types, bondsmen and refunds, read our bail page.

Jail staff can tell you first. The Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067 can give the charges, the bond and which agency made the arrest.

When a case is filed, the court handling it holds the paperwork. For felonies and serious misdemeanors, phone the Clerk of Court, Court House Square, 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-2737. Minor charges sit with the magistrate, 803-584-3755. Final felony charges are decided by the 14th Circuit Solicitor, whose local office is at 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 843-779-8665.

At the bond hearing, your person can request a free lawyer. A sworn statement about income is required, along with a $40 fee that the clerk may excuse (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

• Local public defender: Annex Building, Court House Square, 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-914-2242
• State office: South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343

Hiring a private attorney is another option. Attorney visits at the jail are private.

Before driving over, phone the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067. Ask which days and hours are open, whether you'll sit across a window or talk on video, and if you need to book a slot.

Bring government photo ID. Phones and bags stay outside. Wear modest clothes. Paid video visits from a home computer are common at jails, so ask about that too. More tips are in our visiting guide.

Funds on an inmate account buy snacks, soap and other items, and often pay for calls. Ask the Sheriff's Office, 803-584-7067, which deposit methods the jail uses, the limits and any fees.

Have the booking number on hand. Read our money guide for deposit choices and our commissary guide for the store list. Don't mail cash.

Calls start inside the jail; outsiders can't dial in. Check with the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067 which phone company serves the jail, how to open a prepaid account and whether tablets or messages exist.

Treat each call as recorded, and keep case details for the attorney. Calling is explained in our jail phone guide; electronic messages, in our inmate email and texting guide.

Before writing, check with the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067. Confirm the address, the booking number rule and what photos may be sent.

Write the person's legal name in full, with your own return address in the corner. Leave out cash, stamps, tape and glue. Our mail guide covers the usual rules.

Belongings taken at booking are normally kept until release day. The Sheriff's Office, 803-584-7067, can say when items may be collected and whether your person must sign them over to you.

Carry a photo ID. The Sheriff's Office sits at 603 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, but ask whether pickup is there or at the jail.

Counties must supply jail inmates with basic needs, medical care included (S.C. Code 24-5-80). SCDC inspects each jail at least yearly (S.C. Code 24-9-10).

When your loved one needs a prescription or treatment, phone the Sheriff's Office, 803-584-7067. Give the medication, its strength and the doctor's phone number. Life-threatening emergencies go to 911. Mention any mental health crisis right away.

Sheriff's deputies serve warrants countywide, and town police serve them in Allendale and Fairfax. To ask about one, reach the Sheriff's Office at 803-584-7067 and request Records. Wanted people across South Carolina appear on the state parole agency's most wanted page, and the U.S. Marshals publish their 15 Most Wanted list. Anyone named in one should get an attorney, who can schedule a surrender or a new hearing with the court that issued it. The General Sessions clerk handles felony warrant questions at Court House Square, 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-2737.

Phone the court where the charge was filed:

• Clerk of Court (General Sessions), Court House Square, 292 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-2737
• Magistrate Court, 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

Keep a birth date and full name ready when you call. Each stage of a case is walked through in our court guide.

Federal defendants from here go to court at 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201. The clerk's line is 803-765-5816.

1. Day one in federal court includes a detention hearing about pretrial release (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Before trial, federal detainees answer to the Marshals Service, which rents beds in local jails. Their office is 901 Richland Street, Suite 1300, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-5821.
3. After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator using a name or register number.

If immigration agents want a person held at the county jail, events often go this way:

1. ICE sends its detainer, Form I-247A.
2. Custody can be extended up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. In South Carolina, a jail has 72 hours from booking to verify whether a person held on a crime is lawfully present. Homeland Security is told when the answer is no (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Bond judges factor in unlawful presence and the odds of flight (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).
4. Try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Enter the full name with country of birth, or the A-number.
5. No result? Phone ICE's South Carolina office, 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

Sentences longer than three months put a person under the South Carolina Department of Corrections (S.C. Code 24-3-20). Face-to-face visits are off during intake (if it lasts over a month, ask SCDC).

• The SCDC inmate search refreshes each night.
• To check custody by phone, call the SC VINE line, 866-727-2846. SCDC headquarters: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Visiting and mail details for every prison sit on the JailExchange South Carolina prisons page.

Arrested children are sent to juvenile facilities rather than the county jail. An adult lockup may hold a child for six hours and no longer (S.C. Code 63-19-820). Within two working days a judge reviews the detention (S.C. Code 63-19-830).

• DJJ's Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440, houses most detained youths.
• For where a teen is now, call the local Department of Juvenile Justice office, 603 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-4751.

Jail staff know which agency brought your person in. Agencies with arrest power here:

• Allendale County Sheriff's Office, 603 Barnwell Highway, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-7067. Covers everything outside town police lines, Sycamore, Ulmer and the countryside included.
• Allendale Police Department, 137 Pleasant Street East, Allendale, SC 29810, 803-584-2178
• Fairfax Police Department, PO Drawer 810, Fairfax, SC 29827, 803-632-3222
• South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 7, 1391 Middleton Street, Orangeburg, SC 29115, 803-531-6844. Troopers work the county's highways.

Dial 911 in any emergency.