The Detention Center has 224 regular beds and a 64-person holding area, and the county lookup covers all of them. Steps:

1. Open the lookup on any device with a browser.
2. Choose your search: full name, birth date or arrest number. Results run alphabetically by last name.
3. Read the status field to learn whether the person is still inside.
4. Copy down the bond figure and that person's visiting times.
5. Save the arrest number, since staff use it to pull records quickly.
6. No hit among current inmates? Scan the last 24 hours of arrests and releases.

The jail office explains a confusing entry on weekdays at 843-398-4220.

Plenty of harmless things cause a blank result:

• Booking isn't done. The paperwork can take a while, so check back later in the day.
• Released already. Someone may have posted bond, or the judge may have granted release on a signed promise.
• Odd spelling. Try a short first name, the middle name, or a prior last name.
• Different agency. Florence, Dillon or another county may have made the arrest, or the person may sit in state or federal custody.
• A minor. Children aren't kept in the adult jail.

When the jail office is closed, the after-hours line can confirm custody: 843-398-4920.

Two county sites hold adults, and they serve very different purposes:

• W. Glenn Campbell Detention Center, run by the Sheriff's Office. All bookings happen here. It houses men and women before trial, people with sentences of 90 days or less, and federal defendants kept for the U.S. Marshals. Office line 843-398-4220. Get directions from staff when you call.
• The county Prison Camp, 200 Camp Road, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4210. County government operates this 51-bed, minimum-security camp for men. Under a contract with SCDC, it houses state prisoners who work in county jobs.

Got picked up just across a county border? Try these jails:

• Florence County Detention Center, 6719 Friendfield Rd., Effingham, SC 29541, 843-665-9944.
• Dillon County Detention Center, 1027 Old Latta Highway, Dillon, SC 29536, 843-841-3730.
• Chesterfield County's jail, run by its Sheriff's Office, 203 Watson Street, Chesterfield, SC 29709, 843-623-2101.

Booking photos are a Sheriff's Office matter. Its main line is 843-398-4501, and it accepts written Freedom of Information requests. State law makes the names of people jailed during the last three months public (S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3)). Agencies usually owe a reply within ten working days (S.C. Code 30-4-30(C)).

• Charge dropped, expunged or ending in acquittal? Mail the website a certified letter with proof. It must pull the photo within a month, free of charge (2016 Act No. 132).
• ICE photos have their own form on the ICE records request page.
• A federal mugshot is normally kept from the public; a Marshals Service fugitive alert is the main exception.

Two free tools help:

• The county lookup. Its 24-hour list shows who walked out, so checking it each morning becomes a quick habit.
• VINE. On VINELink South Carolina, you can see whether someone is in custody and which facility holds them, then sign up for a text, call or email when that changes. By phone, the free line is 866-727-2846, in English or Spanish.

Victims who ask must get a reasonable attempt at notice when the accused is let out (S.C. Code 16-3-1530). The Solicitor's victim staff can help at 843-398-4300.

Within 24 hours, a magistrate or town judge decides bond (S.C. Code 22-5-510). Magistrate offices sit at 115 Camp Road, Darlington, SC 29532, 854-267-7670, and 404 South 4th Street, Hartsville, SC 29550, 854-267-7543.

• For most charges, the judge begins with personal recognizance, which is release on a signed promise (S.C. Code 17-15-10).
• Cash, a bondsman's surety bond or a GPS ankle monitor may be ordered instead.
• Murder, and any charge where the top penalty is life or death, goes to a circuit judge for bond.
• Posting bond starts a four-hour release clock (S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)).

Payment spots, bondsman fees and refunds are explained in our bond guide.

Staff at the jail office, 843-398-4220, can list what the person was booked on.

• Felony and other General Sessions papers are held by the Clerk of Court, 110 N. Main Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4330.
• Which charges move forward is up to the Fourth Circuit Solicitor, 1 Public Square, Room 410, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4300.
• The state's crime classes law shows how each class of felony and misdemeanor ranks.

Note each code section number. A lawyer will want them.

If money for a lawyer isn't there, the court can appoint one (S.C. Code 17-3-10). A sworn form about income comes first. The $40 application fee can be lowered or dropped by the clerk (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

• Local public defender: 300 Russell Street, Suite 113, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4069. It handles cases charged in this county.
• State oversight: SC Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

The bond hearing is a good moment to request counsel. Relatives can phone the defender's office, giving the name and charges, to ask whether a lawyer was assigned.

Each inmate's visiting times are listed in their lookup record. Then phone the jail office at 843-398-4220 to settle the details:

• Are visits on video screens at the jail, by video from home, or both?
• Is advance sign-up or booking required?
• Which IDs work, and can kids come along?
• What dress code and banned items apply?

Jail video visits in general are covered by our visiting guide. Once someone moves to SCDC, prison visits happen on weekends and are scheduled online with SCDC.

Funds on an inmate account are spent at the commissary, the jail's own store. The county uses an outside commissary service. Ask the jail office at 843-398-4220 how to deposit, how much is allowed and what any card fee costs.

Our jail money guide and commissary page go deeper. Mailed cash is a risk, so skip it.

Calls out of the jail run through a phone service under contract with the county. To receive those calls, families may first need an account with that service.

For messaging or tablet choices right now, ask the jail office at 843-398-4220. Setup steps appear on our inmate phone page and messaging page.

Call the jail office at 843-398-4220 before mailing anything. Get the mailing address and find out which number to write beneath the person's name. Use their full legal name, and put who it's from, with your address, at top left.

Also ask if photos, books or magazines are allowed and who may send them. Leave out cash, stamps and taped-in items. More tips live on our jail mail page.

The jail stores the items collected at booking and returns them at release. If a relative needs car keys or a phone sooner, ask whether the person inside can sign them over to you.

Phone the jail office at 843-398-4220 on a weekday about pickup times and the ID you'll need.

South Carolina law makes the county supply jail inmates with food, water, clothing and medical access (S.C. Code 24-5-80). Know about an illness or a needed prescription? Call the jail office at 843-398-4220 and ask that medical staff be told. Never drop off pills.

Report any sexual abuse to the same number. The jail's policy is zero tolerance. Every jail in the state gets an SCDC inspection at least once a year (S.C. Code 24-9-10).

Outside town limits, warrants are served from the Sheriff's Office, 1621 Harry Byrd Highway, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4501; ask for the Civil/Warrant Division. Inside a town, its own officers serve them. Statewide and national wanted lists: the Most Wanted Offenders page from the probation department, plus the Marshals 15 Most Wanted. Either magistrate office or the Clerk of Court can tell a caller whether a court issued a warrant. To clear one, the person surrenders at the issuing court, with a lawyer if possible, or phones it to be rescheduled. Find the Clerk of Court at 110 N. Main Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4330.

The office handling the case has the date. On felonies, ask the Clerk of Court at 843-398-4330. On small charges, ask the magistrate: Camp Road at 854-267-7670 or Hartsville at 854-267-7543.

The Solicitor's court dates page posts appearance dates and trial weeks for this county. For what each stage means, from bond to trial, open our court guide.

Because the Detention Center keeps federal defendants for the U.S. Marshals under contract, a person charged in federal court may stay in the local jail during the case.

• Federal hearings take place in the McMillan Federal Building, 401 West Evans Street, Florence, SC 29501, 843-676-3820.
• The first federal hearing decides whether the person waits for trial in custody (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• For a federal prisoner's location before trial, phone the Marshals in Florence, 401 West Evans Street, Suite 341, Florence, SC 29501, 843-662-0750.
• Post-sentencing, switch to the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

First, the Campbell center is handed an immigration detainer, Form I-247A. Jailers can hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). ICE agents then take over custody.

1. Enter an A-number on the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Without one, use the name plus country of birth.
2. Still nothing? Phone the ICE office at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800, Monday through Thursday.

South Carolina adds its own rule. Jail staff have 72 hours to run an immigration status check on each person booked for a crime, with any unlawful presence reported to federal Homeland Security (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Bond judges must count that status as well (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

When the sentence tops three months, the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) takes custody and assigns a prison (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

• Everyone new passes through reception and evaluation. Visits face to face begin after that, or at the 30-day mark if it runs over.
• The SCDC inmate search reflects state custody as of the prior midnight. County inmates aren't in it.
• For custody alerts, ring the SC VINE line at 866-727-2846. SCDC's headquarters is 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• If a man was placed at the county Prison Camp, call the camp directly: 843-398-4210.
• Browse every prison on our South Carolina state prisons list.

A child under 18 is usually handled by Family Court, not adult court (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). An adult jail may keep a child six hours, no more (S.C. Code 63-19-820).

• Youth who must stay locked up are normally sent to the Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440.
• Juvenile Justice has a local office at 302 Russell St., Room 15, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-393-5641. Parents can learn there where the child went.
• A detention hearing comes within 48 hours. Count only workdays; holidays and weekends fall outside it (S.C. Code 63-19-830).

Ask the arresting agency for its report. Every agency in the county is below:

• Sheriff's Office, 1621 Harry Byrd Highway, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4501. Deputies cover everything outside town limits.
• E-911 Center, which takes after-hours, non-emergency calls for every agency listed here, 1623 Harry Byrd Highway, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4920.
• Darlington Police Department, City Hall, 400 Pearl Street, Darlington, SC 29532, 843-398-4026.
• Hartsville Police Department, 135 W Carolina Ave, Hartsville, SC 29550, 843-383-3011.
• Lamar Police Department, on Main Street behind Town Hall; mail to PO Box 267, Lamar, SC 29069, 843-326-5555.
• Society Hill Police Department, PO Box 29, Society Hill, SC 29593, 843-378-4684.
• Coker University Campus Safety in Hartsville, 843-383-8140, staffed around the clock. Its officers have no arrest power and call city police when needed.
• South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 5, 3415 East Palmetto Street, Florence, SC 29506, 843-661-4700. Troop 5 covers this county's state highways.