Two Sheriff's tools cover the jail. Here is how to use them:

1. Open the Sheriff's inmate lookup and search the person's name.
2. For a wider look, open the Citizen Connect booking search. Its "Current Confinements" tab shows who is held now.
3. Use "Admits by Date Range" to see new bookings, or "Releases by Date Range" to see who left. Quick buttons cover the last 24 hours and the last 7 days. A custom range can span up to 31 days.
4. Narrow results by first, middle or last name, by charge, or by the arresting agency.

The same site has a daily report of incidents. For anything that looks wrong or out of date, Records can help at 843-719-4557.

Most dead ends have an easy fix. Work down this list:

• Booking is still going on. A person arrested a few hours ago may not be in the system yet. Try again later, or call Booking at 843-719-4876.
• The spelling is off. Try the legal name, a maiden name, a nickname's full form, or just the last name.
• They already left. Check the "Releases by Date Range" tab on Citizen Connect. Release can happen one to four hours after bond papers arrive.
• Another agency has them. The person may be in a nearby county's jail or in federal custody (U.S. Marshals or ICE).
• The person is a juvenile. Kids under 18 are usually sent to juvenile detention instead of Hill-Finklea.

Still stuck? The jail's 24-hour line is 843-719-4546. Staff can check by full name and birthday whether the person came through booking or was transferred.

The county has one adult jail: the Hill-Finklea Detention Center, 300 California Avenue, Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-4546. The Sheriff's Office runs it.

North Charleston and Summerville both straddle county lines. So an arrest just across the border, even in the same town, may send someone to a neighboring county's jail:

• Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center (Charleston County): 3841 Leeds Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-202-7200.
• Dorchester County Detention Center: call 843-832-0215. The Dorchester Sheriff's Office is at 212 Deming Way, Box 9, Summerville, SC 29483, 843-832-0300.

People charged with federal crimes are held for the U.S. Marshals, and teens go to a Department of Juvenile Justice center.

A booking photo is taken when someone is brought into the jail. To ask for a copy or learn what the Sheriff releases, call Records at 843-719-4557.

South Carolina's public records law makes jail records naming who was confined over the past three months open to the public (S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3)). Reports that describe a crime are also public (S.C. Code 30-4-50(A)(8)). The law gives an agency ten business days to reply to a records request made in writing (S.C. Code 30-4-30(C)).

A 2016 law helps people whose cases end in their favor. Once the charge is dismissed or expunged, or the person is found not guilty, any website showing the booking photo has to remove it with no fee. The site gets 30 days from a certified-mail request that includes proof (S.C. Code 17-1-60).

VINELink South Carolina follows a person's custody and the place they are held. Look up the name, then pick how you want to hear: a text, an email or a call. Registering by phone works too at 866-727-2846, free, in English or Spanish.

VINE helps families as much as victims. It tells you when a person is released, moved to another jail or sent to state prison.

For a quick daily check, the "Releases by Date Range" tab on the Sheriff's Citizen Connect site lists recent releases.

A magistrate sets bond at a video hearing that must take place within a day of the arrest (S.C. Code 22-5-510). In most cases, state law presumes the person goes home on a written pledge to come back, though the judge can still set cash bond or add conditions (S.C. Code 17-15-10). Murder and charges that can bring life in prison go to a circuit judge for bond.

Ask the jail at 843-719-4546 for the amount and kind of bond. After the paperwork reaches the jail, the Sheriff's Office says release takes one to four hours. Our guide to bond in this county covers bondsmen, payment and refunds step by step.

Start with the Sheriff's inmate lookup. The Citizen Connect booking search also lets you filter by charge. Records staff can read you the booked charges at 843-719-4557.

For the court file, call the right office:

• Felony cases: Clerk of Court, county courthouse, 300-B California Avenue, Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-4400.
• Minor cases and preliminary hearings: Magistrate Courts, 223 North Live Oak Drive, Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-4050.

Police reports that describe a crime are public in South Carolina (S.C. Code 30-4-50(A)(8)). Ask the arresting agency for its report.

Anyone too broke to hire counsel may request a public defender (S.C. Code 17-3-10). The request includes a sworn statement about income and bills. There is a $40 application fee, and the clerk has the power to shrink or erase it (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

The local public defender's office is at 105 Gulledge Street, Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-899-2777. Relatives may phone it to learn the steps for applying and which attorney is assigned. The South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343, oversees the state's public defenders.

If the family would rather pay for counsel, the referral line listed by the Clerk of Court is 800-868-2284.

All visits at the jail are by video. Visitors make an account online with the video visit company the jail uses, then schedule from there.

For visit times, rules on who may visit, and the link to sign up, call the jail during business hours at 843-719-3998. Our visitation page walks through the setup.

Keep each visit upbeat. Save questions about the charges for the defense lawyer.

The jail takes deposits three ways:

1. Money order by mail. Any amount, made out to the person, sent to the letter address: their full name and booking number, c/o Smart Communication, Berkeley County Detention Center, PO Box 2027, Pinellas Park, FL 33780.
2. Lobby kiosk. In the front lobby of the Sheriff's Office, 223 North Live Oak Drive, Moncks Corner, SC 29461. It takes cash or a card, with a processing fee. Hours are 8 to 10 a.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. every day, plus visiting hours. Money posts right away.
3. Online. The Sheriff's detention page links the commissary company's deposit site. You need the person's name, housing location and ID number, which the person can give you.

For a deposit that went wrong, call 912-427-9022. For other account questions, call the jail at 843-719-4546. Our money page explains deposits, and our commissary page covers the jail store.

To learn how calls are placed and paid for, which company runs tablets and electronic messages, and what each costs, call the jail's business line at 843-719-3998. For details, see our pages on phone calls from jail and emailing someone inside.

Assume every jail call and message is recorded, and keep the case out of the conversation.

Personal letters are routed through a mail scanning center in Florida. Address them like this:

• Letters: full name and booking number, c/o Smart Communication, Berkeley County Detention Center, PO Box 2027, Pinellas Park, FL 33780.
• Packages: full name and booking number, Berkeley County Detention Center, 300 California Ave., Moncks Corner, SC 29461.

Every envelope needs the sender's name and a return address. Match the name the jail booked the person under. Soft-cover books are fine when shipped directly by a publisher or bookstore. Religious books may come from a publisher, a bookstore or a person, and soft cover is asked for. Magazines and newspapers come only by subscription from the publisher or a bookstore.

Staff check all mail. Banned items are kept, may lead to charges, or are sent back. For legal mail, call 843-719-3998 for the correct address. Our mail page has more tips.

The jail hands over a person's property only when that person agrees in writing. Pickups run Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 300 California Avenue, Moncks Corner, SC 29461.

1. Ask the person to sign the property release for you.
2. Call the jail at 843-719-3998 to make sure the release is on file.
3. Bring a photo ID during pickup hours.

At release, ask staff about any money left on the account.

Under S.C. Code 24-5-80, the county must supply people in jail with food, water, clothing and a way to see medical staff. SCDC inspects each local jail in South Carolina at least once a year (S.C. Code 24-9-10).

If you are worried, call the jail's 24-hour line at 843-719-4546. Calmly explain the problem, such as a missed medicine, a chronic illness or a recent injury. Share the names of medicines and the doctor's phone number.

If a concern isn't resolved, ask for facility administration at 843-719-4543. A lawyer can also raise a health need with the court.

Sheriff's deputies in the Judicial Services Division handle warrant service countywide, and town officers serve them within town limits. The division sits at the Live Oak Complex, 223 North Live Oak Drive, Moncks Corner, SC 29461. Phone 843-719-4465 and ask for Warrants. Two state and federal lists are online: wanted probation and parole violators and the Marshals' top 15 fugitives. The Clerk of Court handles General Sessions bench warrants at 300-B California Avenue, Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-4400. To settle a warrant, have a lawyer contact the court that issued it, or arrange with a lawyer to surrender at the jail, 300 California Avenue, Moncks Corner, SC 29461.

Call the office tied to the type of case:

• Felonies in General Sessions: Clerk of Court, 843-719-4400, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Criminal trial scheduling: the Solicitor's Office, 843-719-4529.
• Magistrate and traffic cases: 843-719-4050.
• Goose Creek magistrate: 843-553-7080. St. Stephen magistrate: 843-567-7400.

Write down the date, time and courtroom, and share them with the person's lawyer. Our court guide lists every courthouse and explains each hearing.

The U.S. District Court's Charleston Division handles this county's federal cases from the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center, 83 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-579-1401. At the first hearing, a judge decides whether to hold the person until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).

Federal detainees awaiting trial are the U.S. Marshals' responsibility. To learn where one is held, call the Charleston office at 85 Broad Street, Room 260, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-727-4255.

A federal sentence hands the person over to the Bureau of Prisons. Search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator with a full name or the eight-digit register number.

1. The jail may receive Form I-247A, ICE's detainer request.
2. With that on file, the jail may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). ICE picks the person up in that window.
3. Once ICE has custody, look for the person on the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Searching by A-number is quickest, and the name plus birth country is the backup.

South Carolina law asks jails to check the status of people booked on criminal charges within 72 hours. When the check finds unlawful presence, the jail must tell federal immigration officials (DHS) (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). A bond judge must take unlawful presence and any flight risk into account (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

ICE's office for the state is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

Terms over three months go to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (S.C. Code 24-3-20). Intake comes first: reception and evaluation, then a prison assignment.

The SCDC inmate search is refreshed each night at midnight, so a transfer can take a day to show. People serving county time do not appear there. To check custody by phone, use the SC VINE line at 866-727-2846. SCDC headquarters is at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.

Our South Carolina prisons page lists every state prison.

Anyone under 18 is handled by Family Court, apart from 17-year-olds charged with top-level felonies (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). A teen can't be held in an adult jail longer than six hours. A child 10 or younger can't be held at all (S.C. Code 63-19-820).

Most youth from around the state are held at DJJ's Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440 (visits line). A detention hearing must come within 48 hours. Weekends and holidays stop that clock from running (S.C. Code 63-19-830).

For Family Court dates, call 843-719-4500. The local DJJ office can tell you where your child is: 109 West Main Street, Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-761-8194.

Citizen Connect's booking search shows who made each arrest. Here is who patrols the county:

• Berkeley County Sheriff's Office, Live Oak Complex, 223 North Live Oak Drive, Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-4465. Deputies patrol every area outside town limits and towns without their own officers.
• Town police in Bonneau, Goose Creek, Hanahan, Jamestown, Moncks Corner and St. Stephen. The Sheriff's Office can give you the right town department's line or transfer your call.
• Charleston Police Department, 180 Lockwood Blvd., Charleston, SC 29403, 843-577-7434. Covers the parts of the city of Charleston inside this county.
• North Charleston Police Department, City Hall, 2500 City Hall Lane, North Charleston, SC 29406, 843-740-2812.
• Summerville police and campus police: call the Sheriff's Office for the right number.
• South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 6, 2070 Northbrook Blvd, Suite A-20, North Charleston, SC 29406, 843-953-6000. Troop 6 covers this county.

For any emergency, dial 911.