SCDJJ Juvenile Detention Complex Inmate Bail & Bonds

By law a judge must see the person for bond within 24 hours (S.C. Code 22-5-510). Here, that judge is a magistrate or a city (municipal) judge. City judges may both set bonds and accept them (S.C. Code 14-25-115).

• Picked up by city officers in Gaffney. The city runs bond hearings seven days a week, at 8:30 a.m. and again at 4:30 p.m. They meet in the Municipal Courtroom inside City Hall, 201 N. Limestone Street, Gaffney, SC 29340. On a weekend or holiday the building is locked, so phone security at 864-649-8313 an hour or more before the hearing. A voicemail works.
• Picked up by deputies, troopers or another agency. A county magistrate hears the bond, and a weekend magistrate is on duty too. Phone the jail at 864-487-2529 for the hearing time and place.

City Hall has a dress code and metal detectors, and phones must be off. After the bond is in, state law allows the jail four hours at most to open the door.

For most charges, state law begins with release on a written promise (S.C. Code 17-15-10). A judge adds money or conditions when a no-show or harm to someone seems likely. The choices:

• Personal recognizance (PR). A signature, with no money down. Skip court and the full amount is owed.
• Cash. You pay the bond in full. That money stays on deposit with the court for the life of the case (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Surety. For a fee, a licensed bondsman stands behind the whole amount.
• Ten percent cash. If the judge permits, a deposit equal to 10 percent goes to the Clerk of Court. Violent charges never qualify. Nor can judges use it on a gun felony that arose while another bond was open (S.C. Code 17-15-15).
• GPS monitor. Electronic tracking can replace the money part or ride along with it (S.C. Code 17-15-35).

Every bond says the same three things: show up in court, don't leave the state, and behave (S.C. Code 17-15-20). Judges often tack on more, like a no-contact order.

No fee chart covers jail bonds in this county. A judge sets a figure for every charge, case by case. The law lists what the judge may weigh: the charge, family, work, money, character, years living here, old convictions and any history of no-shows. Pending charges and any bond the person is already out on must be weighed too (S.C. Code 17-15-30).

The top sentence for a charge hints at how hard a judge may look at it:

• Third-degree assault and battery, the most minor assault charge: $500 and 30 days at the most (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2))
• Shoplifting of $2,000 or under: $1,000 and 30 days at the most
• Shoplifting above $2,000 but under $10,000: felony, five years at the most
• Shoplifting at $10,000 or higher: ten years at the most (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B))
• Murder: a minimum of 30 years and as much as life, or the death penalty (S.C. Code 16-3-20(A)). Only a circuit judge sets this bond.

Rough math for cash out of pocket: a $5,000 surety bond means a bondsman's fee somewhere from $500 to $750. A ten percent deposit on that bond is $500 to the clerk. The jail at 864-487-2529 can tell you the real figure.

The Detention Center is at 315 E. Dr. LM Rosemond Lane, Gaffney, SC 29340.

1. Call 864-487-2529 and spell out the legal name. Have the birth date handy.
2. Get the bond figure on each charge. Make sure a judge has already set it.
3. Find out who collects this bond (the jail, a magistrate or the Clerk of Court) and which kinds of payment that office will take today.
4. Working with a bondsman? Hand over the name and charges. The bondsman takes care of the filing.
5. Have a photo ID on you. Save each receipt.
6. Expect some waiting. After bond reaches the jail, release must come within four hours (S.C. Code 22-5-510).

The jail uses electronic fingerprinting, and it says state and federal record replies often arrive in 15 minutes to an hour. That can shorten booking.

It depends on which court set the bond. Cash may be deposited straight with the magistrate or city judge instead of a recognizance (S.C. Code 22-5-530). Phone ahead:

• Magistrate Court, main office: 312 E. Frederick St., Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-2533. Ask for the criminal clerk.
• Magistrate Court, Blacksburg office: 301 West Cherokee Street, Suite A, Blacksburg, SC 29702, 864-839-2492.
• Municipal Court at City Hall (city police cases): 201 North Limestone Street, Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-8524. Hours run 8:15 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday.
• Clerk of Court (ten percent deposits): 125 E. Floyd Baker Blvd., Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-2571. Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Before you hand over money, ask the amount, the payment forms allowed, and if the jail frees the person right after you pay.

The magistrate court's mail-in rules for traffic bonds are a good hint. Money orders, cashier's checks and certified checks are fine. Mailed cash and personal checks are not. Those bonds go to P.O. Box 336, Gaffney, SC 29342, marked with the officer's name and the summons number.

Court pages also link online payment for tickets and fines. These links won't free anyone from the jail:

• Magistrate ticket payments on the SC Judicial Branch site
• City court payments, the service linked from the Municipal Court's page

For a jail bond, call 864-487-2529 before you drive over and confirm which payments work that day. Cash never goes in the mail.

A bondsman promises the court the whole bond if the person vanishes. You pay for that promise. The state caps what they can do:

• Bondsmen and their runners hold licenses from the SC Department of Insurance. Look one up on the license lookup the Department points to.
• The fee, or premium, can't go past 15 percent. The smallest fee allowed is $100 or 10 percent, whichever is bigger.
• Payment plans start with $100 or more down and can stretch to 18 months (S.C. Code 38-53-170(e)).
• Think of the premium as the bondsman's wages. It stays with them even when a case is dismissed.
• They can't troll for customers at courts, magistrate offices or jails. Recommending a particular lawyer is forbidden too.
• Anything pledged as security, say a pickup's title, has to be returned no more than ten days after the bondsman's obligation is over. An open bench warrant can hold that up.

To file a grievance, reach the Department of Insurance, 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-6160.

Each bond unlocks a single case. Ask about these first:

• More charges. Every charge and every court sets its own bond, so a city case and a county case each need one.
• Out-of-area warrants. A different county or state may have a claim and come to collect.
• Probation or parole. Ask the state probation office here, 113 W. Buford St., Suite C, Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-489-4568, whether a hold is in place.
• A bond already running. Picture a person freed on a violent or gun felony who is then accused of a fresh one. The law cancels the first release at once. Within 30 days, a circuit court must hold a hearing on it (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).
• Circuit-level charges. Murder, and anything else punishable by death or life, waits for a circuit judge.
• Immigration. ICE may ask for a brief hold past release.

Have the jail at 864-487-2529 list every hold before money changes hands.

South Carolina's constitution promises bail to most people and bans excessive bail (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15). A judge may refuse it on capital charges, on charges that carry a life term, and on the crimes state law labels violent (S.C. Code 16-1-60). The judge has to weigh the evidence.

Murder and other death-or-life charges are beyond a magistrate's power to bond. Those go to a circuit judge (S.C. Code 22-5-510(A)). For the other listed violent crimes, a magistrate can still set an amount or refuse.

The 7th Circuit Solicitor argues for the state on bond in serious cases. Its office for this county is at 202 N. Petty St., Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-2576, and a victim advocate works there.

Once notice is given and a hearing held, a court may rewrite a bond or its rules (S.C. Code 17-15-50). A circuit judge can also reconsider a General Sessions bond first set in a summary court (S.C. Code 17-15-55). To get ready:

1. The defense lawyer files the request at the Clerk of Court, 125 E. Floyd Baker Blvd., Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-2571.
2. Bring pay records, a rental agreement or deed, the names of relatives in the Upstate, and an honest budget figure.
3. Propose safeguards, for example a GPS monitor or a stay-away order.
4. Know the victim may speak. That is their right at any bond hearing.

When the case is still with a magistrate, the criminal clerk is at 864-902-2385.

When hiring counsel costs too much, appointed counsel is available (S.C. Code 17-3-10). The person completes a sworn statement about money and owes a $40 application fee. The clerk can reduce or drop that fee (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

The Seventh Circuit Public Defender keeps a county office at 229 E. Floyd Baker Blvd., Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-514-3123, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

• Staff review household income and assets, then an investigator does an interview.
• Someone in the jail can apply without leaving, since staff come to the jail to take forms.
• Carry along warrants, tickets and any court notices.
• The office covers General Sessions, Family Court, drug court, magistrate court and city court.

The SC Commission on Indigent Defense oversees public defense statewide: 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

• Court of General Sessions (felonies and serious misdemeanors), courthouse at 125 E. Floyd Baker Blvd., Gaffney, SC 29340. Clerk of Court: 864-487-2571.
• Family Court (youth), in that building, 864-487-2570.
• Magistrate Court, main office, 312 E. Frederick St., Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-2533.
• Magistrate Court, Blacksburg office, 301 West Cherokee Street, Suite A, Blacksburg, SC 29702, 864-839-2492.
• City of Gaffney Municipal Court, 201 North Limestone Street, Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-8524.
• Blacksburg Municipal Court, mailing address P.O. Box 487, Blacksburg, SC 29702, 864-839-2332.
• Federal court, Donald S. Russell Federal Building, 201 Magnolia Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306. Its calls are answered by the Greenville clerk, 864-241-2700.

The circuit judges who hear General Sessions here also cover Spartanburg County, since both form the 7th Judicial Circuit (S.C. Code 14-5-610).

Cash posted with a court is returned when it has served its purpose, which normally means the case ended and the person made every date (S.C. Code 17-15-220). A ten percent deposit is refunded after the conditions are kept, minus restitution if ordered (S.C. Code 17-15-15). Keep that receipt safe.

Here is what follows a skipped date:

• The judge orders the person picked up on a bench warrant.
• The surety bond is lost 90 days later unless the bondsman brings the person in (S.C. Code 38-53-70).
• A no-show on purpose adds a brand-new charge. After felony release, the penalty can reach $5,000 and five years. If the charge was a misdemeanor carrying at least a year, it can cost $1,000 and a year (S.C. Code 17-15-90).

Refund questions go to whoever took the money, for example the Clerk of Court at 864-487-2571 or the magistrate's office at 864-487-2533.

Items a person carried at booking stay at the jail, 315 E. Dr. LM Rosemond Lane, Gaffney, SC 29340, until they leave. Ring 864-487-2529 about the leftover balance on their account and a pickup time for their things. If you are fetching items for them, ask if staff need written permission from the owner. Carry photo ID.

For the basics of deposits and refunds, see our inmate money page.

Federal charges here are filed in the Spartanburg Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Court can be held in the Donald S. Russell Federal Building, 201 Magnolia Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306. Clerk work for Spartanburg cases happens in Greenville, 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-241-2700.

• The question of jail or home comes up at the very first federal hearing. A defense lawyer may ask to postpone that ruling by as much as five days; prosecutors may ask for three (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• Pretrial custody is arranged through the Greenville office of the U.S. Marshals Service, which also serves Spartanburg cases: 300 East Washington Street, Room 232, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-232-1566.
• That can mean a bed in a county jail somewhere. The Marshals can say where.
• Once sentenced, the person appears in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

An immigration hold survives a paid bond. What usually happens:

1. The Rosemond Lane jail receives a detainer request (Form I-247A) signed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer.
2. Jail staff may then keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE comes to take custody. Its South Carolina office, run by the Atlanta Field Office, is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
4. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator with their A-number, or name plus birth country.

South Carolina goes a step further. The jail has 72 hours to find out if a person jailed on a criminal charge lacks lawful status, and must alert Homeland Security when that is true (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Bond judges here must factor in unlawful presence and any real risk of flight (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

Someone sentenced to 90 days or less normally serves it in the county (S.C. Code 24-3-30). The Detention Center keeps people awaiting trial plus those sentenced to 90 days or fewer. Beyond three months, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) takes custody and picks the facility (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

• SCDC first sends each new prisoner through reception and evaluation. Until that step ends, family can't see them in person (unless it passes the 30-day mark).
• Each night at 12, the SCDC inmate search refreshes its list.
• SCDC: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500. SC VINE, for custody checks: 866-727-2846.
• Visiting and mail details for every prison are in our South Carolina state prisons listings.

In South Carolina, under 18 means a child, and children go to Family Court. Age 17 is handled differently for the worst felonies. A Class A, B, C or D charge, or any felony with a 15-year cap or more, puts a 17-year-old before an adult judge (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)).

• A child may sit in the adult jail six hours at most. No one 10 or younger may be jailed (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• If DJJ keeps the youth, a judge reviews it within 48 hours, skipping weekend days and holidays (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Most counties send detained youth to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210. Visits line: 803-896-9440.
• DJJ's office in this county is at 113 W. Buford St., Suite A, Gaffney, SC 29340, 864-487-2564. Its staff can tell you which building houses the youth and the hearing day.

Family Court's desk at the Clerk of Court takes calls at 864-487-2570.