Courts here split the work by how much punishment a charge can bring.

• Summary courts are the county magistrate courts and the city municipal courts. They try charges worth up to a $500 fine, 30 days, or both (S.C. Code 22-3-550 and 14-25-65). Some laws give them more, such as shoplifting of $2,000 or less, with a fine as high as $1,000 (S.C. Code 16-13-110). A jury there has six people (S.C. Code 22-3-545).
• The Court of General Sessions is the circuit court's criminal branch. It takes every felony and the misdemeanors too big for a summary court. Each case belongs to the county where the offense is said to have occurred.
• Family Court hears charges against children under 18.

This county shares the 13th Judicial Circuit with Pickens County (S.C. Code 14-5-610). The two counties share one Circuit Solicitor and one circuit public defender.

Three buildings handle most of the work:

• County Courthouse, 305 E. North Street, Greenville, SC 29601. The Court of General Sessions sits here. The Clerk of Court answers at 864-467-8551, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., except county holidays. The Solicitor and the Public Defender also have offices in this building.
• Bond Court, inside the Law Enforcement Center at Room 116-A, 4 McGee Street, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-467-2402. Magistrates there hear bond for the newly arrested.
• Family Court, 350 Halton Road, Greenville, SC 29607, 864-467-5800. It is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Federal charges are tried in a different courthouse on the same street, the Campbell federal courthouse, 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-241-2700.

Magistrates issue warrants, set bonds and try minor criminal, traffic and civil cases. Besides Bond Court, the county runs Gantt Summary Court and four area courts that carry the names East, North, South and West Greenville.

• Gantt: 1103 White Horse Road, Greenville, SC 29605, 864-467-8825
• East: 320 West Main Street, Taylors, SC 29687, 864-467-4625
• North: 301 Trailblazer Drive, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, 864-467-8600
• South: 445 E. Curtis Street, Simpsonville, SC 29681, 864-467-8470
• West: 301 University Ridge, Suite S-T600, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-467-4640

Tickets written by state troopers and deputies are heard in the East, North and West courts and in the Fairview Austin township court. For the Fairview Austin location, call the Clerk of Court at 864-467-8551.

Six cities hold court for arrests made by their own police:

• Greer Municipal Court, 100 S. Main Street, Greer, SC 29650, 864-848-5374
• Mauldin Municipal Court, 5 E. Butler Road, Mauldin, SC 29662, 864-289-8898, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Simpsonville Municipal Court, 445 E. Curtis Street, Simpsonville, SC 29681, 864-967-9526. It shares the building with the county's South magistrate court.
• Fountain Inn Municipal Court, 300 Wall Street, Fountain Inn, SC 29644, 864-531-0644. Criminal and traffic court meets Tuesdays at 8:30 a.m.
• Travelers Rest Municipal Court, City Council Chambers, City Hall, 125 Trailblazer Drive, Travelers Rest, SC 29690, 864-834-8740 (city hall). Court meets the third Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
• Greenville Municipal Court hears traffic, misdemeanor and ordinance cases from inside the City of Greenville. Its court page has case details. For the address, ask the Clerk of Court at 864-467-8551.

Arrests outside city limits go to a county magistrate court instead.

Within 24 hours of the arrest, the person must get a bond hearing (S.C. Code 22-5-510). Most are held at Bond Court on McGee Street. The magistrate goes over the charges, checks the record and any other pending cases, and then names the release terms.

Victims get notice of this hearing and can speak at it (S.C. Code 16-3-1525). A person who wants a free lawyer should say so here and fill out the money form.

When a charge is beyond a magistrate's power to try, the defense may demand a preliminary hearing. The deadline is 10 days after bond is set (Rule 2(a), SCRCrimP). A magistrate runs it and decides whether the evidence is strong enough for the case to go forward.

A small charge stays in the magistrate or city court that took the arrest. At arraignment the defendant answers the charge. Denying it sets up a trial, either before the judge alone or before six jurors. Common local charges and their limits:

• Third-degree assault and battery: up to $500 and 30 days (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2))
• Shoplifting worth $2,000 or less: up to $1,000 and 30 days (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B))
• Class A, B and C misdemeanors in General Sessions: up to three, two and one year (S.C. Code 16-1-20)

Young adults under 21 charged with alcohol offenses may ask the Solicitor's office about the Alcohol Education Program, which costs $250 (S.C. Code 17-22-520 and 17-22-550). Minor traffic charges may fit the Traffic Education Program. Both are run from 350 Halton Road, Suite 301, Greenville, SC 29607, 864-467-8717.

A felony in this county usually follows this path:

1. Arrest and bond hearing in summary court, often within a day.
2. Preliminary hearing in magistrate court, if the defense asks in time.
3. Transfer to the Court of General Sessions at the County Courthouse, 305 E. North Street, Greenville, SC 29601.
4. Court dates by mail. The 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office sets General Sessions dates and mails notices to the defendant.
5. Plea or trial, then sentencing if found guilty.

A felony's class caps the prison term (S.C. Code 16-1-20). Class A allows 30 years, Class B 25, Class C 20, Class D 15, Class E 10 and Class F five. Shoplifting over $2,000 but under $10,000 can bring five years, and $10,000 or more can bring ten (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B)).

The state keeps a list of violent crimes in S.C. Code 16-1-60, including murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and first-degree burglary. Landing on that list affects the case at several points:

• Release. Magistrates may refuse bond on listed crimes. Where death or life in prison is possible, the bond decision belongs to a circuit judge alone.
• Arrests while on bond. Picking up a new violent or gun felony while free on one cancels that bond by law. A circuit hearing follows inside 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)). The new crime also counts as a stand-alone felony carrying as much as five years (S.C. Code 17-15-270).
• No diversion. Pretrial Intervention is closed to violent charges and to DUI (S.C. Code 17-22-50).
• Murder. The sentence is death, or 30 years to life (S.C. Code 16-3-20(A)).

Prosecutor. The 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office handles General Sessions cases for this county. It works from the County Courthouse, 305 E. North Street, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-467-8647. Call this number with questions about a General Sessions date.

Defense. The Public Defender's county office is in Room 123 of that courthouse, 305 East North Street, Room 123, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-467-8522. The person signs an oath-backed money statement (S.C. Code 17-3-45). A $40 fee comes with it, though the clerk may shrink or forgive that charge (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

The statewide agency is the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

Yes, for some people. The Solicitor decides who gets in. The main program is Pretrial Intervention, or PTI. Finishing it ends in dismissal, after which the record may be expunged on request (S.C. Code 17-22-150).

• The county PTI office is in the Family Court Building, 350 Halton Road, Suite 301, Greenville, SC 29607, 864-467-8717.
• Applicants should be 18 or older, with no serious record and no earlier PTI.
• Take along photo ID, proof of a Social Security number, your tickets or warrants and other court papers. The office also wants a $100 payment by money order or cashier's check, payable to PTI.
• State law sets a $100 application fee and a $250 participation fee, which can be waived for those who cannot pay (S.C. Code 17-22-110).

The circuit also runs a drug court, a mental health court, a veterans court and a homeless court at the city's municipal court. Ask the PTI office which one fits.

Several free tools cover local cases:

• The county Public Index lets you search court records by name or case number.
• The General Sessions dockets list upcoming felony court weeks.
• The magistrate dockets cover Bond Court and the summary courts.

Court records will not say where someone is jailed. For that, use the jail's inmate search. For a General Sessions date, phone the Solicitor's Office at 864-467-8647. For a magistrate date, call the court that has the ticket or warrant.

County warrants are served by the Sheriff's Warrant Services Division. Its Warrants Office answers at 864-467-5241 in business hours. At night, dial 864-271-5210 and ask for warrants. City officers handle warrants within their own towns. Online, the U.S. Marshals Service keeps a 15 Most Wanted page, and South Carolina posts its PPP Most Wanted Offenders page. You can also check open cases on the Public Index. A lawyer's advice should come first. With counsel beside you, walk in to the judge who issued it, or ring that court about a fresh hearing date. The Clerk of Court sits at 305 E. North Street, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-467-8551.

Federal charges filed here are heard by the Greenville Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Its courtrooms are in the Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601, and the Clement F. Haynsworth Jr. Federal Building, 300 East Washington Street, Greenville, SC 29601. The clerk is at 864-241-2700, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

1. A detention hearing at the opening appearance settles home or jail until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142). A defense lawyer can ask that this hearing wait as long as five days, and a prosecutor can ask for three.
2. Until trial, housing for each federal defendant is arranged by the U.S. Marshals. Their local office sits in the Haynsworth building, Room 232, 864-232-1566.
3. After sentencing, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows the prison.

The charges in state court go on as normal. An immigration detainer mostly matters at the moment of release. The steps:

1. An ICE officer sends the Detention Center a Form I-247A.
2. With it, McGee Street staff may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. State law tells jails to check, inside 72 hours, the immigration status of each person booked on criminal charges. Those found here unlawfully are reported to the Department of Homeland Security (S.C. Code 23-3-1100).
4. At the bond hearing, unlawful presence and any flight danger count against release (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).
5. ICE's Atlanta Field Office covers the state from 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
6. The ICE Online Detainee Locator finds people in ICE custody.

Pleading guilty may carry immigration consequences. A noncitizen's lawyer should explain those risks before any plea.

If the sentence is three months or less, the county keeps the person (S.C. Code 24-3-30). If it is longer, the South Carolina Department of Corrections takes custody and decides where (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

• State prisoners begin in a reception and evaluation stage. Face-to-face visits must wait until it is done, except when it stretches beyond 30 days.
• The SCDC inmate search is updated each night at midnight. People still in the county jail will not appear.
• SCDC: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500. SC VINE alert line: 866-727-2846.
• Our South Carolina state prisons guide has visiting and mail facts for each prison.

Family Court, 350 Halton Road, Greenville, SC 29607, 864-467-5800, hears most cases against children. A 17-year-old goes straight to adult court if the felony falls in Class A through D, or if its maximum is at least 15 years (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)).

• A youth kept in custody is placed at the county's juvenile facility, Greenville Youth Services, run by the county under a state contract.
• A judge reviews detention within 48 hours, a count that leaves out weekends and holidays (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• A Family Court judge may hold a waiver hearing and move a 14-, 15- or 16-year-old's serious felony to General Sessions (S.C. Code 63-19-1210).
• The Solicitor also offers Juvenile Arbitration, Juvenile PTI and a Juvenile Drug Court.
• The Department of Juvenile Justice county office is at 350 Halton Road, Suite 307, Greenville, SC 29607, 864-467-5875.

The state constitution lets victims be told about, and speak at, every hearing on bond (S.C. Const. art. I, § 24). Police must try to tell victims about the arrest and the bond hearing. A judge must delay the hearing if notice came too late (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).

• The Solicitor's Victim Witness program helps victims through the case. Call the Solicitor's Office at 864-467-8647.
• Free custody alerts come from SC VINE or by phone at 866-727-2846, in English and Spanish.
• The Victim Advocacy Division of the Attorney General works from the Rembert Dennis Building, 1000 Assembly Street, Room 519, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-3739.

Relatives and friends of a defendant must stay away from the victim, in person and through others. Any contact can put the bond at risk.