Colleton County Sheriff’s Office Inmate Bail & Bonds

For most arrests here, a county magistrate decides. Bond hearings run twice daily, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., with an odd extra session in rare cases. The Magistrate Court office sits in the Jessie D. Padgett Building, 40 Klein Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1122. The court itself says to check that day's times with the jail at 843-549-5742.

State law puts both ends on a timer. The hearing must happen inside 24 hours of the arrest (S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)). Once bond is handed in, the jail must open the door within four hours.

City cases written by Walterboro officers may instead go to the town's own judge, because municipal judges can set and accept bonds as well (S.C. Code 14-25-115). That court is at 242 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-782-1057.

Unless the charge could bring the death penalty, a judge begins by asking whether the person's word is enough (S.C. Code 17-15-10). Money or tighter terms come in only when the judge doubts the person will return or worries about someone's safety. The options:

• Personal recognizance (PR). The person signs, swears to come back, and walks out without paying.
• Cash. Somebody covers the entire amount. Under S.C. Code 22-5-530, cash can be lodged at the magistrate's or town court's office in place of a mere signature.
• Surety. A licensed bondsman guarantees the total to the court, and you owe that bondsman a premium.
• Ten percent cash with the clerk. Some judges allow a deposit of up to one tenth of the bond with the clerk of court (S.C. Code 17-15-15). Violent charges rule it out. So does a new gun felony while an earlier bond is pending.
• GPS monitoring. Electronic monitoring may replace a bond or come as an extra condition alongside it (S.C. Code 17-15-35).

Whatever the type, three terms come with it: appear in court, stay in the state and keep out of trouble (S.C. Code 17-15-20). Wondering if a house or land can back a bond, and which papers that needs? Ask the Magistrate Court at 843-549-1122.

Nobody in South Carolina publishes a set bond for each crime. Every bond is fitted to one person. The judge may think about the charge, relatives close by, a job, money, character, time spent living in the Lowcountry, old convictions and any skipped court dates. Four more items are required, not optional: open cases elsewhere, any bond the person is already on, a listing in South Carolina's gang database, and unlawful presence plus a risk of running (S.C. Code 17-15-30).

A charge's maximum punishment hints at how steep the bond could run. Some local examples:

• Third-degree assault and battery: misdemeanor, $500 and 30 days at most (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2)); handled by a magistrate or town judge.
• Shoplifting, $2,000 or under: $1,000 and 30 days at most, still a summary court case (S.C. Code 16-13-110).
• Shoplifting, over $2,000 and under $10,000: felony, five years at most.
• Shoplifting, $10,000 and up: felony, ten years at most.
• Felony classes (S.C. Code 16-1-20): the ceiling is 30 years at Class A and shrinks letter by letter: 25 at B, 20 at C, 15 at D, 10 at E, 5 at F.
• Violent offenses on the state list (S.C. Code 16-1-60), like carjacking or armed robbery: the magistrate can grant bond or say no.
• Murder, or anything punishable by life: a circuit judge alone sets the bond.

Need the actual number for one case? On a weekday, ring the Magistrate Court at 843-549-1122.

A short checklist saves a wasted drive:

1. Dial the Detention Center, 843-549-5742. Jot down how the person's name appears legally, plus their birthday.
2. Write down the bond figure, its type and which charges it covers.
3. Ask if another county, a probation agent or a federal office has a hold on file.
4. Ask who collects this particular bond (jail, Magistrate Court or clerk of court) and whether cash, a card or a money order works there today.
5. Ask how to find the building. Carry your photo ID and the exact sum due.
6. Hang on to every receipt; a refund later depends on it.

Using a bondsman? That person handles filing with the court and jail, while you pay the premium and sign their agreement. When the bond has been delivered, staff have up to four hours to let the person go (S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)).

Often, yes. Rules differ from office to office, so a phone call first is wise.

• Magistrate Court (handles most county bonds): Jessie D. Padgett Building, 40 Klein Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1122. Weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed county and state holidays. Cash may be left with a magistrate (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Clerk of Court (the county lists bail among its jobs, and ten percent deposits are made here): 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-5791. Weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Walterboro Municipal Court (city charges): 242 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-782-1057.
• Cottageville Municipal Court: mailing address Post Office Box 57, Cottageville, SC 29435. Phone 843-835-8655 to learn where and when it takes payment.
• Edisto Beach Municipal Court: 2414 Murray Street, Edisto Island, SC 29438, 843-869-2505.

Also ask each office how quickly the jail learns that a payment went through.

On the Sheriff's website, a link reading "Pay Traffic Fines or Bonds" leads to the county's online court payment page, which the South Carolina Judicial Branch runs. The Magistrate Court sends ticket payers to that same page. Tickets and fines are its main use, and which bonds it can take is unclear. Before paying a bond online, ring the Magistrate Court at 843-549-1122 and confirm the payment will lead to release.

The Magistrate Court's fine rules give a good idea of what to expect:

• Mailed payments: cashier's check or money order, nothing else.
• Counter payments: cash or credit card.
• No personal or business checks.
• No payments by phone.
• Cash should never go in an envelope.

Over at the Clerk of Court, General Sessions fines are paid in cash or by money order, with personal checks refused. Bond money may follow its own rules, so ask the office handling the bond.

Bondsmen here answer to the South Carolina Department of Insurance, which licenses them. S.C. Code 38-53-170 fixes their fees:

• Highest premium allowed: 15 percent of the bond's face value.
• Lowest: $100 or ten percent, whichever is larger.
• Installment plans start with $100 or more down and finish within 18 months.
• Whatever happens in the case, the premium is never refunded.

Drumming up business in courtrooms, magistrate offices or jails breaks state law, as does nudging a family to hire a certain lawyer. Pledged items such as a deed or truck title must go back to the owner within ten days of the bond ending, except when a bench warrant is out. Falling behind on the fee does not, by itself, let the bondsman surrender the person (S.C. Code 38-53-50(B)).

Licensing staff can confirm a bondsman at 803-737-0719. File a complaint with the South Carolina Department of Insurance, 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-6160.

Sometimes the bond clears and the person still sits. Usual causes:

• More than one case. Every charge or warrant can carry a separate bond, including warrants from other counties.
• Probation or parole. A supervising agent may want the person kept. Probation, Parole and Pardon Services has a county office at 101 Mable T. Willis Blvd., Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-538-3142.
• A charge a magistrate can't bond, like murder, which waits on a circuit judge.
• Being charged with another violent or gun felony while still out on bond for one. The earlier bond ends automatically, and the circuit court must hold a hearing inside 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).
• Waiting on an ankle monitor when the judge ordered one.
• An ICE detainer or a federal hold.

Before any money changes hands, ask jail staff at 843-549-5742 whether a hold shows up.

Bond is a right for most defendants in South Carolina, and the constitution forbids setting it too high. Still, a judge can deny it if the possible sentence is death or life behind bars, or when it is one of the violent offenses lawmakers have named, so long as the evidence gets due weight (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15).

If death or life imprisonment is a possible sentence, the magistrate's bond power ends (S.C. Code 22-5-510(A)). A circuit judge takes those, which tends to mean extra days in jail first. With a crime from the violent list in S.C. Code 16-1-60, the magistrate gets to choose between setting bond and refusing it.

A violent crime committed by someone already bonded out on a violent charge is an added felony worth up to five years (S.C. Code 17-15-270). Prosecutors for the 14th Circuit Solicitor have their local office upstairs in the courthouse, 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-779-8716. Hours run 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Yes, there is a path. Circuit judges have the power to revisit any General Sessions bond first set in magistrate or city court (S.C. Code 17-15-55). The court hearing the case may also add or change conditions, once everyone gets notice and a hearing (S.C. Code 17-15-50). Most of the time a defense lawyer files the request.

Judges want reasons to believe the person will show up. Useful papers:

• Recent paychecks or a note from the employer
• A rental agreement or power bill showing where the person sleeps
• Relatives in the area willing to help
• A record of showing up for past court dates

Reach the public defender at 319 North Lucas St, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1633. For how a bond review gets scheduled, the Clerk of Court answers at 843-549-5791.

No savings for a private attorney? The court will appoint counsel (S.C. Code 17-3-10). First comes a signed oath listing income and bills, plus a $40 application fee. A clerk can cut or drop the fee if paying it is not possible (S.C. Code 17-3-30). Parents or guardians sign and pay for a minor (S.C. Code 17-3-45).

Locally, the public defender works out of 319 North Lucas St, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1633. That office belongs to the 14th Circuit, a five-county group that also takes in Allendale, Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper. The circuit line is 843-255-5000.

For the statewide system, contact the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

• Courthouse and Clerk of Court (Court of General Sessions, for felonies and the heavier misdemeanors): 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-5791, weekdays 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Family Court files are kept by this office too, at 843-549-2870.
• Magistrate Court (bond hearings, small charges, preliminary hearings): Jessie D. Padgett Building, 40 Klein Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1122; criminal and traffic desk 843-549-1140.
• Walterboro Municipal Court: 242 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-782-1057.
• Cottageville Municipal Court: Post Office Box 57, Cottageville, SC 29435, 843-835-8655; phone for the street location.
• Edisto Beach Municipal Court: 2414 Murray Street, Edisto Island, SC 29438, 843-869-2505.
• Federal court (Charleston Division): J. Waties Waring Judicial Center, 83 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-579-1401.

Cash left with the court can be claimed by the person who paid it once its purpose is served, meaning the case has ended and no hearing was skipped (S.C. Code 17-15-220). The clerk gives back a ten percent deposit when every bond condition has been kept, holding back only restitution a judge ordered (S.C. Code 17-15-15). Whatever happens in court, that premium stays in the bondsman's pocket.

Skipping court sets off a chain. First comes a bench warrant. A bondsman who cannot surrender the defendant within 90 days of that warrant forfeits the surety bond (S.C. Code 38-53-70). A willful no-show is also a new crime (S.C. Code 17-15-90): as much as $5,000 plus five years for someone freed on a felony, or $1,000 plus one year for someone freed on a misdemeanor whose top sentence is a year or longer.

Questions about claiming a refund and the timeline go to the Clerk of Court, 843-549-5791. Have the receipt handy.

Anything the person carried in at booking is bagged and stored by the jail, and unspent account money is still theirs. Phone the Detention Center at 843-549-5742 before making the trip, and ask:

1. How does the jail pay out an account balance, by check, card or cash?
2. May a relative collect property, and during which hours?
3. Must the person first sign a form naming you?
4. Which ID should you show?

For adding funds while the person is still held, visit our jail deposits page.

A case filed by federal agencies in this area lands in the Charleston Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Its clerk works from the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center, 83 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-579-1401, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Federal court has no use for a state bondsman. At the defendant's first trip into the courtroom, a federal judge weighs release under 18 U.S.C. 3142 and picks freedom on a promise, freedom with conditions, or detention. Either side may seek a short postponement: the defense's delay can run five days at most and the prosecutor's three at most, and the defendant sits in jail meanwhile.

A federal defendant waiting on trial is a Marshals Service prisoner. That agency's Charleston office is at 85 Broad Street, Room 260, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-727-4255. After sentencing, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows the prison.

Yes, it can. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) uses Form I-247A to place a detainer with a local jail. The request is that the jail hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released, giving agents time to collect them (8 CFR 287.7(d)). State bond, even fully paid, leaves that request in place.

South Carolina goes further. Under S.C. Code 23-3-1100, jail staff run an immigration status check on criminal bookings, finishing it inside three days (72 hours), and pass any unlawful presence on to the Department of Homeland Security. At bond court, the judge factors in unlawful presence and any risk of escape (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

After a transfer to ICE, search with the name and nation of birth in the ICE Online Detainee Locator. The ICE office serving this state is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

Short time, three months or under, normally stays local in the county's custody (S.C. Code 24-3-30). Anything longer hands the person to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), and the department chooses the place (S.C. Code 24-3-20). Once in a while, by agreement, that is a county jail.

Prisoners arriving at SCDC first pass through reception and evaluation. Intake bars face-to-face visits, unless it stretches past 30 days. Then comes a move to an assigned prison.

To find someone, open the SCDC inmate search. It is refreshed nightly at midnight and covers state prisoners only, never county jail inmates. SCDC headquarters: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500. Custody checks and alerts by phone go through SC VINE at 866-727-2846. Each South Carolina prison appears on our South Carolina prisons page.

Under 18 means Family Court in South Carolina, with one big carve-out. A 17-year-old is tried as an adult for a felony ranked A, B, C or D, or on any felony that can bring 15 years or longer (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). When a 14-, 15- or 16-year-old faces a serious felony, the case can move up to General Sessions after a waiver hearing (S.C. Code 63-19-1210).

A minor may spend six hours at most behind adult jail doors, and a child of 10 or under can't be locked up anywhere (S.C. Code 63-19-820). Two business days (48 hours, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or holidays) is the deadline for the detention hearing (S.C. Code 63-19-830).

A local youth locked up before trial usually waits at DJJ's Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440 (visits). The DJJ office for this county is at 219 South Lemack St., Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1509. To reach the Family Court staff, dial 843-549-2870.