The lookup runs on the county's own website. To use it:

1. Go to the inmate lookup.
2. Tick the box that proves you are a person, not a robot.
3. Pick a start and end date that covers the day of the arrest.
4. To find someone who may have left already, choose the option that adds past inmates.
5. Open the matching record. It lists each charge, the booking status, any release date and past bookings.
6. Write down the ID number. Staff and mail both use it.

The page also shows how many men and women are in the jail that day. A listing is not proof of guilt, and the county says so on the page.

Several things can leave the results empty:

• Still in booking. Records appear only after intake ends.
• The date range is too narrow. Widen it by a day on each side.
• They are out. Bond court sits several times a day, so release can be quick. Add past inmates to the search.
• The arrest was across a county line. Neighbors in Berkeley, Dorchester or Colleton counties run their own jails.
• They are under 18. Teens go to the Sheriff's separate juvenile center.
• A federal agency made the arrest. Federal prisoners are placed wherever the U.S. Marshals arrange.

Staff can check by phone at 843-202-7200. If that line is tied up, the second main number is 843-202-7222.

All adults from this county are held at one campus, 3841 Leeds Ave., North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-202-7200. Its parts serve different jobs:

• Tower A. The original 1966 building. It holds eight housing units, the library and staff training space.
• Towers B and C. Offices, the control center, kitchen, laundry, lobby, visiting space and medical unit. They also hold 21 direct-supervision housing units, where an officer works inside the unit, and a state-licensed infirmary.
• Charleston County Juvenile Detention Center. A Sheriff's Office facility off the main campus for youths. For its address and visiting rules, call the Sheriff's Office at 843-202-1700.

The old Work Camp and the modular housing units closed in 2020. Ask the jail which tower a person is in, since that can change.

Arrests close to the Berkeley, Dorchester, Colleton or Georgetown line may end up in those jails:

• Hill-Finklea Detention Center (Berkeley County), 300 California Ave., Moncks Corner, SC 29461, 843-719-4546
• Dorchester County Detention Center, 220 Hodge Road, Summerville, SC 29483, 843-832-0215
• Colleton County Detention Center, 22 Klein Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-5742
• Georgetown County Detention Center, 2394 Browns Ferry Road, Georgetown, SC 29442, 843-545-3400

The lookup is built around charges, booking status and release dates. The Sheriff's Office handles booking photo questions at 843-202-1700. South Carolina treats jail rosters as public records (S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3)).

• A website that posts mugshots must take one down for free within 30 days. That rule applies after a dismissal, an expungement or a not guilty verdict. The request goes by certified mail with proof (S.C. Code 17-1-60).
• Federal agencies seldom release booking photos. A U.S. Marshals notice about a fugitive is the main exception.
• Immigration booking photos can be sought in writing through the ICE records request page online.

Yes. VINELink South Carolina tracks custody status and location, so it tells you where someone is held as well as when they leave. Alerts are free. The same service answers by phone at 866-727-2846, in English or Spanish.

On VINELink, search by name or by an offender or SID number. Once a person moves to state prison, the Department of Corrections Division of Victim Services also sends release notices. Its line is 803-896-1733, and sign-up is by a mailed form.

Most people see a magistrate at Centralized Bond Court within 24 hours (S.C. Code 22-5-510). It sits at 3831 Leeds Avenue, Suite 200, North Charleston, SC 29405, at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays. On weekends and holidays it sits at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Ring the magistrates' office at 843-202-6600 with questions.

• For charges that can't bring death, the judge starts from release on a signed promise (S.C. Code 17-15-10).
• The judge may set a cash or surety bond, order a GPS monitor or add rules like no contact with a victim.
• Murder, and other charges where death or life behind bars is possible, wait for a circuit judge to set bond.
• After the bond is posted, the jail has four hours to let the person go.

City of Charleston charges can be heard at the city's bond court on Lockwood Boulevard. Our bail and bond page explains bondsmen, payments and refunds.

Start with the inmate lookup, which lists charge details on each booking. At bond court, the judge reads the charges out loud.

• The arresting agency must give the bond judge the person's record, open charges and incident reports (S.C. Code 22-5-510(E)).
• Crime reports that describe what happened and where are public in South Carolina (S.C. Code 30-4-50(A)(8)). Request a copy from the arresting agency.
• For felony charges that move up to General Sessions, the Clerk of Court can help at 843-958-5000.

A person who can't afford counsel can ask the bond judge for a public defender. They swear to their finances in writing, and a $40 fee applies unless the clerk waives or lowers it (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

• Public Defender for this county: 101 Meeting Street, 5th Floor, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-958-1850.
• Lawyers may meet clients in person at the jail Monday to Friday, except county holidays. Times are 9 to 11 a.m., 1:30 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m.

Personal visits here are video visits only, booked through the vendor's website after you make an account. Rules from the detention center:

• The person must be held 72 hours before a first visit.
• Each person can have up to three 30-minute visits in any 7-day stretch.
• Visit times: 8:00 to 10:50 a.m., 1:00 to 4:25 p.m. and 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. The last start times you can book are 10:20 a.m., 3:55 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.
• A parent or legal guardian has to join any visitor age 16 or younger.
• Out-of-state visitors who show an out-of-state photo ID may get one visit without booking, if a slot is open.
• A dress code applies. Tank tops, halter tops and see-through clothing are turned away.

Our visitation guide walks through setting up an account. For questions, call 843-202-7200.

The jail is cashless, so money goes in through one of three channels:

• Lobby kiosk at 3841 Leeds Ave., North Charleston, SC 29405.
• Online through the deposit website the jail names, using site number 229405.
• Mailed money order. The payee is the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center. The memo line carries the inmate's name plus ID#. Send it to: Inmate Name and ID#, Charleston County Detention Center, 3841 Leeds Avenue, North Charleston, SC 29405.

Mailed cash or personal checks get turned away. Money that arrives before 8:00 a.m. Monday can be spent on that week's canteen order, which is capped at $100 a week. Our money deposit guide and commissary guide have more detail.

At booking, the person gets one free local call. After that, calls go out collect through the jail's phone company. Its customer service line is 800-844-6591 for setting up an account.

• Tablets cost a $5.00 subscription that lasts 30 days. Not every person in custody has one.
• Messages use stamps: one stamp, at $0.25, sends text. Two stamps add a photo, and three add a video.
• Tablets also offer e-books, classes, a law library and media.

Leave case details for conversations with the lawyer. Our jail call guide and inmate messaging guide cover sign-up steps.

Letters and cards are sent to a digital mail center in Tampa, Florida, not to Leeds Avenue. The jail stopped taking personal mail on site on May 1, 2023. Address it like this:

• Incarcerated Individual and ID#
• Charleston, SC County Jail
• C/O Securus Digital Mail Center
• PO Box 20207, Tampa, FL 33622

Each page is scanned so the person can read it on a tablet. Photos and drawings are fine. Send paper only, letter size (8.5 by 11 inches) or smaller. Packages and certified mail go back to the sender. Originals are destroyed 60 days after upload, unless you include a stamped envelope addressed to yourself.

Food, clothes, books, magazines, newspapers, toiletries, stamps, cash, checks, musical cards and Polaroids are all refused. People without money get two free letters a week. See our jail mail guide for tips.

Property and cash come back at the jail lobby, 3841 Leeds Ave., North Charleston, SC 29405. Release hours run every day from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 7:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m.

• To hand items to family, the person in custody signs a Valuable Property/Cash Release Form.
• Checks are written in the name of the person in custody.
• After any money on the account has been used, staff release cash only to bondsmen or lawyers.
• Bring a government photo ID.

Call 843-202-7200 before you drive over to ask what is being held.

Towers B and C house the jail's medical unit and an infirmary licensed by the state health agency. By law, the county must give people in jail food, water, clothing and access to medical care (S.C. Code 24-5-80).

For a health worry, call 843-202-7200 and ask for medical. Have the drug name, dose and prescribing doctor's number ready. Tell staff at once if self-harm or a mental health crisis is a worry. For a life-threatening emergency, dial 911.

Deputies serve warrants in unincorporated areas and towns without police, and city officers serve them in town. The Sheriff's online warrant search is the first place to look. For a phone check, call the Sheriff's Office at 843-202-1700 and ask for warrants. Also review the state probation agency's most wanted offenders and the national 15 Most Wanted fugitives. A bench warrant ends when the person, ideally with a lawyer, turns in to the issuing court or gets a new date from it. General Sessions warrants go through the Clerk of Court, 100 Broad Street, Suite 106, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-958-5000.

Magistrates, city judges and the circuit court each run separate calendars. Pick the right office:

• Magistrate cases and preliminary hearings: Summary Court office, 4045 Bridge View Drive, Suite B143, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-202-6600.
• Felonies in General Sessions: Clerk of Court, 100 Broad Street, Suite 106, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-958-5000.
• City cases: Municipal Court, 180 B Lockwood Boulevard, Charleston, SC 29403, 843-724-7460.

The inmate lookup also links to South Carolina's court records search. Our court process page follows a case from bond court to sentencing.

U.S. Attorneys file local federal cases in the Charleston Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, at the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center, 83 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-579-1401.

1. A federal judge chooses jail or release for the time the case is pending. The ruling is made at the opening federal hearing (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Pretrial housing is arranged by the U.S. Marshals, who may use a local jail. Their office is at 85 Broad Street, Room 260, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-727-4255.
3. After a prison sentence, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

A paid bond does not stop an immigration detainer. The usual order:

1. Leeds Avenue staff log Form I-247A, which is how ICE asks them to keep someone.
2. Staff may keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. Agents arrive during those 48 hours to take the person.
4. Use the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Type the name and native country, or an A-number.

Under state law, the jail checks the immigration status of anyone held on a criminal charge within 72 hours. Homeland Security is told about anyone found to be here unlawfully (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Bond judges must also factor in unlawful presence and flight risk (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)). The ICE office serving South Carolina is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

Sentences over three months are served under the South Carolina Department of Corrections (S.C. Code 24-3-20). Shorter ones usually stay at the county jail.

• Every new state prisoner goes through reception and evaluation first. No in-person visits happen then, unless that stage runs past 30 days.
• The person then moves to an assigned prison.
• Search the state inmate search. It shows people in state prisons as of midnight the night before, not county inmates.
• Headquarters: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500. SC VINE line for custody alerts: 866-727-2846.
• Since November 3, 2025, only people on the approved visitor list can put money on a state prisoner's account.
• Our South Carolina prison directory covers each facility.

Children under 18 are handled by Family Court, except 17-year-olds charged with the most serious felonies (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). Adult jails can hold a youth for no longer than six hours, and no child 10 or under is ever jailed (S.C. Code 63-19-820).

• Local youths stay at the Charleston County Juvenile Detention Center, which the Sheriff's Office runs. To reach it, phone 843-202-1700.
• A judge reviews the detention within 48 hours, weekends and holidays aside (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• The state Department of Juvenile Justice keeps a local office at 3887 Leeds Ave., North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-740-1649.

The arresting agency can tell you why the person was picked up. Many local departments share a 24-hour non-emergency dispatch line, 843-743-7200.

County-wide

• Sheriff's Office, non-emergency 843-202-1700. Deputies patrol unincorporated areas and towns with no police force, such as Seabrook Island.
• South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 6, 2070 Northbrook Blvd, Suite A-20, North Charleston, SC 29406, 843-953-6000.

City and town police

• Charleston Police Department, 180 Lockwood Blvd., Charleston, SC 29403, front desk 843-577-7434.
• North Charleston Police Department, City Hall, 2500 City Hall Lane, North Charleston, SC 29406. Central Bureau 843-740-2812, South Bureau 843-308-4718, North Bureau 843-207-0666.
• Mount Pleasant Police Department, 100 Ann Edwards Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464, 843-884-4176. The lobby is open 24 hours.
• Isle of Palms Police Department, 30 J.C. Long Boulevard, Isle of Palms, SC 29451, 843-886-6522.
• Folly Beach: City Hall, 21 Center St., Folly Beach, SC 29439, 843-588-2447. Ask for the police department.

For an arrest in James Island, Sullivan's Island, Kiawah Island, Hollywood, Ravenel, Lincolnville, McClellanville, Awendaw, Meggett or Rockville, call county dispatch. Staff will connect you with the agency that patrols there.

Campus police

• The Citadel Public Safety, 208 Richardson Ave., Charleston, SC 29409, 843-953-5114.
• CofC Public Safety, 89 St. Philip Street, Charleston, SC 29424, 843-953-5609.
• Medical University of South Carolina, 171 Ashley Avenue, Charleston, SC 29425. Call the main line, 843-792-2300, and ask for public safety.