Located at:
317 Goodale Road
Chesterfield, SC
the Chesterfield County Work Camp books adults arrested in Chesterfield County on felony and misdemeanor charges.
In South Carolina, county detention centers are run either by the sheriff or by county government, and they take arrests from sheriff’s deputies as well as from city and town police departments in the county. Every new detainee is photographed and fingerprinted, has property logged, is checked for warrants and goes through a medical screening before housing.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol and the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) also book people here, as do federal agencies including the U.S. Marshals and ICE.
South Carolina law requires the Chesterfield County Work Camp to make a reasonable effort to determine the immigration status of people confined on criminal charges and to notify federal authorities when someone appears to be in the country unlawfully. State law also bars city and town governments in Chesterfield County from adopting sanctuary policies, and a number of South Carolina sheriffs’ offices, such as this one, take part in ICE’s 287(g) program. People held under an ICE detainer may be transferred to federal custody when local charges are resolved.
Arrest information shown here comes from the county’s official booking list (opens in a new tab) or an official statewide list. Entries may include a booking photo, each charge and the arresting agency. To clear up anything unclear, contact the Chesterfield County Work Camp at 843-623-7234.
Getting through intake and into a housing unit, or out the door on bond, can take a couple of hours or most of a day depending on how many arrests are in the queue.
South Carolina law requires that a person arrested in Chesterfield County be brought before the local court's magistrate or other judge for a bond hearing within 24 hours. Many counties hold these hearings at their county detention center, often by video, several times a day. The judge may release on a personal recognizance bond or set a surety or cash bond; for the most serious charges, such as murder, only a circuit judge can set bond. Commercial bail bondsmen, licensed by the South Carolina Department of Insurance, operate statewide. Our Bail page explains how release works.
Phone the detention center at 843-623-7234 and ask whether the person has been booked.
Depending on the county, you may reach an automated inmate information line or a booking officer. A date of birth helps staff find the right record and protects the detainee’s privacy.
New arrests often take several hours to show up while intake is completed.
The Chesterfield County Work Camp Booking Roster lets you search recent bookings online without calling.
After an arrest and Miranda warnings, the arresting officer drives the person to the detention center serving Chesterfield County, where deputies or detention officers take custody and begin the booking paperwork.
Booking takes several steps. Lawyers generally urge arrestees not to talk about the case with officers or other detainees, since those conversations can be overheard or recorded and used later.
Detainees have a mugshot and fingerprints taken and answer questions about their health and history. Warrant checks cover Chesterfield County, the rest of South Carolina and national databases. South Carolina also collects a DNA sample at arrest for felonies and certain other eligible offenses; the sample can be expunged if the charge is dismissed.
For a DUI arrest, blood is generally drawn only with consent or a warrant. Refusing a breath test under South Carolina’s implied consent law triggers a driver’s license suspension.
Detainees are searched, which may include a strip search, and walk through a metal detector or body scanner.
Booking officers ask about medical conditions, medications, illegal drug or alcohol use, allergies, mental health and suicide risk, tattoos, gang involvement and, under state law, citizenship and immigration status. The answers guide housing decisions and any special care.
All personal items are collected, recorded on a property sheet and locked up until release. With written permission from the detainee, a friend or relative may be able to collect them sooner.
Items held include clothing, money, wallets, purses, cell phones, jewelry, earrings, piercings and watches. Glasses can be taken if staff consider them a hazard, and laces are removed from any shoes the person keeps.
Once booked, a detainee is usually allowed a phone call to let someone know about the arrest or to start arranging bond or bail, typically ahead of the bond hearing.
Those who remain in custody are given a jail uniform and sandals or slip-on shoes, a mattress cover and blanket, sheets, a towel, soap and dental supplies.
Before being taken to a housing unit, detainees are often required to shower and may be treated for lice or scabies.
Booking may take an hour or stretch past 24 hours. Busy nights, short staffing and an uncooperative detainee all slow things down, and release on bond cannot happen until the bond hearing is held.
A person who arrives highly intoxicated or combative may be placed in a holding cell for several hours before booking continues.