Criminal work here is split between two levels:

• Summary courts. The Magistrate Court and the three town courts try charges whose punishment stops at $500, 30 days, or both (S.C. Code 22-3-550; S.C. Code 14-25-65). A handful of laws reach past that line. Shoplifting worth $2,000 or less, for example, can draw a fine as high as $1,000 there (S.C. Code 16-13-110). If a jury is seated, it holds six people (S.C. Code 22-3-545). Bond hearings and probable cause (preliminary) hearings take place here too.
• Court of General Sessions. Felonies and misdemeanors carrying more than 30 days land here. Think of it as the circuit court's criminal branch; a case is heard in whichever county the offense happened in. This county belongs to the 14th Judicial Circuit, along with Allendale, Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper (S.C. Code 14-5-610).

Cases against children start in Family Court. The Clerk of Court at 843-549-5791 can say which court holds a particular case.

• County courthouse (Court of General Sessions, Clerk of Court and Family Court): 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-5791. Office hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mail goes to P.O. Box 620, Walterboro, SC 29488, and email to clerkofcourt@colletoncounty.org. Family Court has its own line, 843-549-2870. Prosecutors work on the second floor.
• Magistrate Court (one office serving the whole county): Jessie D. Padgett Building, 40 Klein Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1122. The criminal and traffic desk is 843-549-1140. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 1732, Walterboro, SC 29488, and its email is magistrate@colletoncounty.org. Open weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., except county and state holidays.
• Town courts: 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; and Edisto Beach Municipal Court, 2414 Murray Street, Edisto Island, SC 29438, 843-869-2505.

All three towns run municipal courts for charges their own officers file:

• Walterboro Municipal Court: 242 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488. Court staff take questions about fines, warrants and jury duty at 843-782-1057. The city's associate judge holds the bond hearings, and the municipal judge runs traffic court and jury trials. Unpaid fines and court costs are sent to the state's Setoff Debt Collection program, which can take them from a tax refund.
• Cottageville Municipal Court: mail to Post Office Box 57, Cottageville, SC 29435. Call 843-835-8655 and ask for the court for its meeting place and days.
• Edisto Beach Municipal Court: 2414 Murray Street, Edisto Island, SC 29438, 843-869-2505. Ask for the court clerk.

Deputies' cases from Lodge, Smoaks, Williams and the rural parts of the county go to the Magistrate Court, 40 Klein Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1122.

The first time most people see a judge is at bond court. State law requires one within 24 hours of an arrest (S.C. Code 22-5-510). Here the Magistrate Court holds them in two daily blocks, 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. and 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. Its office is in the Jessie D. Padgett Building, 40 Klein Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1122.

• Officers hand the judge the arrestee's criminal history. They also share open charges, their reports and any other bonds (S.C. Code 22-5-510(E)).
• Victims must be notified ahead of time, and the judge must let them speak if they wish (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).
• The judge sets release terms or, for the most serious charges, leaves bond to a circuit judge.

If the charge is beyond what a magistrate may try, the defense can demand a preliminary hearing. The request must be filed inside 10 days from bond court (Rule 2(a), SCRCrimP). At that hearing, a magistrate decides if there is enough proof for the charge to go on.

Most small cases follow the same road:

1. The case begins with a ticket, or with a warrant signed by a judge.
2. The person is released on a promise or a bond.
3. A date is set in the Magistrate Court or a town court.
4. The defendant admits the charge or denies it. A not-guilty plea sends it to trial, where a six-person jury or the judge alone rules.
5. If found guilty, the judge sentences right there or on a later date.

Penalties for two common charges:

• Assault and battery, third degree: as much as $500 and 30 days (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2)).
• Shoplifting of $2,000 or less: as much as $1,000 and 30 days (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B)).

Heavier misdemeanors go to General Sessions. Under S.C. Code 16-1-20, a Class A misdemeanor can bring up to three years; drop to B and the limit is two, to C and it is one. The 14th Circuit Solicitor also runs short programs that end in dismissal. One is the Traffic Education Program for tickets under four points ($280; it takes a four-hour safety class plus four hours of volunteer work, all done in 45 days). Another is the Alcohol Education Program for people under 21 with charges like underage possession or an open container ($250). DUI qualifies for neither. Program staff answer at 843-779-8477.

1. Arrest and bond. A magistrate holds the bond hearing, except for crimes punishable by death or life, which need a circuit judge for bond.
2. Preliminary hearing. If the defense asks for it in time, a magistrate checks the evidence.
3. General Sessions. The case moves up to the circuit court at 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488. The Solicitor's office handles the General Sessions schedule here, so it decides when a case is called.
4. Plea or trial. A guilty plea ends it early; otherwise the case goes to trial before a circuit judge.
5. Sentence. The judge chooses a punishment within the law's limits.

How long can a felony sentence run? Class A reaches 30 years, and each letter after it drops by five, down to 5 years for Class F (S.C. Code 16-1-20). Shoplifting above $2,000 but below $10,000 is a felony; the sentence can reach five years, and $10,000 or more can bring ten.

First-time, nonviolent defendants may qualify for Pretrial Intervention. Completing the program wipes out the charge, and expungement can follow (S.C. Code 17-22-150). Upcoming sessions show on the county's court rosters.

Yes, in several ways. South Carolina names its violent crimes in S.C. Code 16-1-60. Murder and attempted murder are on it, as are voluntary manslaughter, carjacking, kidnapping, armed robbery, first- and second-degree burglary and arson, the two most serious levels of criminal sexual conduct, human trafficking and some drug trafficking. Since 2026 Act No. 138, shooting into a home or other building is on the list too.

• Bond: a magistrate may refuse it for a listed crime. For murder, bond is a circuit judge's call.
• Murder sentence: death, or 30 years to life (S.C. Code 16-3-20(A)).
• Repeat arrests on bond: when a new violent or gun felony charge hits someone who is out on bond for one, the old bond is void by law, and a circuit hearing follows within 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)). The new crime itself can add five years (S.C. Code 17-15-270).
• Fast state motions: prosecutors can ask a circuit judge to revoke or change a bond at an emergency hearing within 48 hours (S.C. Code 17-15-55(B)).
• No PTI: violent crimes, like DUI, are shut out of Pretrial Intervention (S.C. Code 17-22-50).

Prosecution. The 14th Circuit Solicitor brings General Sessions cases. Its local office is on the courthouse's second floor, 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-779-8716, open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Letters go to Post Office Box 366, Walterboro, SC 29488.

Pretrial Intervention (PTI). The circuit offers it once in a lifetime to first offenders facing nonviolent charges, on a referral from the court. Fees are $100 to apply and $250 for the program, paid by cashier's check, money order or online. Cash and personal checks are refused. Applications can be dropped off at the office in the courthouse or mailed to Pretrial Intervention, Fourteenth Circuit Solicitor's Office, P.O. Box 1880, Bluffton, SC 29910. An orientation letter usually comes in six to eight weeks. PTI line: 843-779-8477.

Defense. To get a public defender, an applicant without the money for a lawyer signs a sworn money statement and pays $40, which the clerk may reduce or waive (S.C. Code 17-3-30). The office is at 319 North Lucas St, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1633. Its mailing address is PO Box 525, Beaufort, SC 29901.

Search the county's Public Index, run by the South Carolina Judicial Branch:

1. Load the index in any web browser.
2. Enter the defendant's name or, if you have it, the case number.
3. Click the right result for its details.
4. Call the clerk if a date or charge is unclear.

Upcoming General Sessions calendars appear on the court rosters page. The Public Index tracks cases, not people in custody, so use the Sheriff's jail list to learn if someone is still held.

A phone call works too. For magistrate cases, try the criminal and traffic desk at 843-549-1140. For felonies, call the Clerk of Court at 843-549-5791.

Deputies carry out arrest and bench warrants all over the county; the Walterboro, Cottageville and Edisto Beach police handle them within town limits. Ask the Sheriff's warrants unit at 843-549-1964, 394 Mable T. Willis Blvd, Walterboro, SC 29488, whether one is active. Wanted lists run by government: the state's probation agency Most Wanted list, plus the federal Marshals Service top 15 fugitives. To clear one, walk in to the court behind it, lawyer at your side if you can, or phone that court to reschedule. The felony court's clerk is at 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-5791.

Then the case skips the county courts. It goes to the Charleston Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. The clerk's office is in the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center, 83 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-579-1401, and keeps hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

1. First appearance. A federal judge looks at release right away under 18 U.S.C. 3142. Possible outcomes: release on a personal promise, release with conditions, or detention.
2. Short delays. Either side may ask to delay the detention hearing: the defense by five days at most, prosecutors by three. The defendant stays in custody during the delay.
3. Custody. The U.S. Marshals keep custody while the case is open. Their Charleston office: 85 Broad Street, Room 260, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-727-4255.
4. After sentencing. The Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where the person is serving time.

Immigration holds and criminal charges move on parallel paths. Here is the order of events:

1. Immigration agents file a Form I-247A detainer with the Walterboro lockup.
2. Under that paper, jailers may hold on for up to 48 more hours past the point of release (8 CFR 287.7(d)), bond paid or not.
3. Agents arrive and transfer the person to ICE.
4. Family can then search the ICE Online Detainee Locator by name and country of birth, or with the A-number.

State law adds two pieces. A jail gets 72 hours after a criminal booking to look into the person's legal right to be here. Where that right is missing, the jail sends word to federal Homeland Security officials (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Unlawful presence and flight risk are both factors the bond judge has to consider (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)). ICE's South Carolina office: 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

It turns on how long the sentence is. Three months or less is normally served under county control (S.C. Code 24-3-30). More than three months, and the person passes to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, which names the place of confinement, sometimes a local jail by agreement (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

Prison time opens with an SCDC intake stage, reception and evaluation (R&E). Relatives can't come face to face during R&E; the exception is an R&E stay longer than 30 days. A permanent prison is assigned afterward.

To locate someone in state prison, use the SCDC inmate search, updated each night at midnight, showing state prisoners alone. Reach SCDC at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500. For custody alerts, the SC VINE line is 866-727-2846. Facility pages are gathered on our state prisons in South Carolina list.

Family Court hears most cases against people under 18. It runs through the Clerk of Court at 101 Hampton Street, Walterboro, SC 29488, with a Family Court line at 843-549-2870. Seventeen-year-olds are the exception when the felony falls in Classes A through D, or when it carries 15 years or more. Such a 17-year-old is charged as an adult (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)).

• Six hours is the legal ceiling for keeping a juvenile in an adult lockup. A child 10 or younger may not be jailed at all (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• A detention hearing comes within 48 hours, skipping weekends and holidays (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Ages 14 to 16, on serious felonies, may be waived up to General Sessions after a hearing (S.C. Code 63-19-1210).
• For a public defender, a parent or guardian signs the money statement and owes the fee (S.C. Code 17-3-45).

Before a hearing, youth are usually held at the DJJ Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440 (visitation). Local DJJ staff work at 219 South Lemack St., Walterboro, SC 29488, 843-549-1509.

South Carolina's constitution lists rights for crime victims (S.C. Const. art. I, § 24). They must be told about hearings, and they may speak at any bond hearing. They must hear when the accused is arrested, freed or escapes. They are owed fair protection, time with the prosecutor and full payback for their losses. Officers must try to warn victims of the arrest and give them enough notice to attend bond court. If notice comes late, the judge must delay the hearing (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).

• The Sheriff's Office has a Victims Services unit with victim advocates; reach it through the main line, 843-549-2211, at 394 Mable T. Willis Blvd, Walterboro, SC 29488.
• The Sheriff's domestic violence hotline: 843-782-3208.
• Victims can sign up for free release alerts through VINELink South Carolina or 866-727-2846; the line works in Spanish too.
• The Attorney General's Victim Advocacy Division: Rembert Dennis Building, 1000 Assembly Street, Room 519, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-3739.

Relatives of the accused should avoid the victim entirely and should not act as go-betweens for notes or messages. Such contact may break bond terms and send the defendant back behind bars.