SCDJJ Juvenile Detention Complex Inmate Bail & Bonds

In most cases a summary court judge decides. Here that means one of the county's magistrates, or a municipal judge for a city arrest (S.C. Code 14-25-115). South Carolina requires that hearing within 24 hours of the arrest. After the money or paperwork is turned in, release must follow in four hours or less (S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)).

All magistrates share one office, the Magistrate Court at 528 Monument Street, Room 100, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8655, staffed weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Hearing times can shift, so ask that office or the jail at 864-943-8059 when your person's hearing is set and where.

Murder, and other charges that put death or life in prison on the table, sit outside a magistrate's reach for bond. A circuit judge must set it (S.C. Code 22-5-510(A)). Expect that hearing to come later than the usual one.

When the charge is not a capital one, state law begins with a plain promise to return (S.C. Code 17-15-10). A dollar amount or added conditions follow only if the judge doubts that promise or sees a safety risk. Here is the menu:

• Personal recognizance. A signature, no cash today. The set amount comes due only after a missed date.
• Cash bond. Every dollar is paid. A magistrate or municipal judge may also hold cash rather than a signed pledge (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Surety bond. A bondsman covers the full sum for the court. Your cost is the premium.
• Ten percent cash. With the judge's OK, the family may pay one tenth, in cash, at the clerk of court's window. Violent charges, and gun felonies picked up while already on bond, are left out (S.C. Code 17-15-15).
• Electronic monitoring. A GPS device may take the place of money or ride along with it (S.C. Code 17-15-35).

Rules often come attached, like staying away from the person who made the report. One broken rule can mean a trip back to Edgefield Street.

No price list decides this. The judge sizes each bond to the person, and the law tells the judge what to look at (S.C. Code 17-15-30):

• the charge and any earlier convictions
• ties to relatives, work, money, and length of local residence
• past failures to show up in court
• pending cases, plus any bond the person is already free on
• gang database entries, and unlawful immigration status combined with a likelihood of fleeing

The highest sentence a charge carries also pushes the figure up or down. Simple assault and battery in the third degree tops out at 30 days and $500 (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2)). Shoplifting of $2,000 or under tops out at 30 days and $1,000 (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B)). Class F felonies reach five years (S.C. Code 16-1-20). The arresting officers must share the record with the judge by hearing time (S.C. Code 22-5-510(E)).

Once the hearing ends, the jail at 864-943-8059 can read you the exact number.

The Detention Center shares the Law Enforcement Center at 528 Edgefield Street, Greenwood, SC 29646 with the Sheriff's Office. Go in this order:

1. Ring 864-943-8059. Ask whether bond has been decided yet and what it is on each charge.
2. Ask where the bond gets posted and what forms of money staff accept that day.
3. Choose cash, a licensed bondsman, or the 10 percent route if the judge allowed it.
4. Carry photo ID. Hold on to each receipt and anything you sign.
5. Stay close by. The four-hour release clock starts when the bond is in.

If nobody picks up, the Sheriff's Office front line in the same building is 864-942-8600.

Some do, for certain cases. Phone ahead, because each window serves its own set of cases.

• Magistrate Court, 528 Monument Street, Room 100, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8655. Payments are taken from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. By law, cash may be left with a magistrate in place of a signed pledge, so ask if this bond qualifies.
• Clerk of Court, 528 Monument Street, Room 114, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8575, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. General Sessions bonds are filed here, and so is any 10 percent deposit a judge approves.
• City Municipal Court Office, 520 Monument Street, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8474, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A summons from city police, Lander University police or Self Regional Healthcare security can be bonded at this counter. Showing up on the court date is the other path.

Each office sets its own rules, so check before the drive.

• Clerk of Court. No credit cards. Ask the clerk at 864-942-8575 which other forms are fine.
• City court, in person. Cash goes only to the window inside the Municipal Building.
• City court, by mail. A cashier's check or money order only, payable to "City of Greenwood," with the full name and citation number written on it. Mail it to P.O. Box 40, Greenwood, SC 29648.
• City court, after hours. The drop box by the front entrance of the Municipal Building, 520 Monument Street, Greenwood, SC 29646, never closes.
• City court, online. Card payments for bonds and fines on city citations run through the city's ticket and bond payment page, with a 4 percent card fee on top.

For a jail bond, staff at 864-943-8059 will say what they take. Cash should never travel by mail.

A bondsman puts up no cash at first. They sign a promise to cover the whole bond if the person vanishes, and they charge a premium for that risk. State law caps what they may do (S.C. Code 38-53-170):

• Every bondsman, and every runner who works for one, must hold a license from the South Carolina Department of Insurance.
• Premiums can't pass 15 percent of the bond amount. The floor is the greater of $100 or a tenth of the bond.
• Spreading payments out requires at least $100 down. It can't run longer than 18 months.
• Whatever premium you pay, you will not see it again. It is the bondsman's pay for the risk.
• Bondsmen may not hunt for customers in courtrooms, magistrate offices or the jail, and they may not recommend a lawyer to you.
• Your pledged title, deed or other collateral is due back ten days after the bondsman's liability ends, barring a bench warrant.

Problems with a bondsman can be reported on the Department's online complaint page, by mail to 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201, or by phone at 803-737-6160.

Bond only covers the charges a judge bonded. Ask the jail at 864-943-8059 to check for each of these before you hand over money:

• Out-of-county warrants. A sheriff or court somewhere else may also have papers on the person.
• A murder or life-sentence charge. Nobody leaves on that until a circuit judge rules.
• Bond already running on a violent or gun felony. A new charge of that kind cancels the first bond automatically, and circuit court must hear it within 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).
• Probation or parole. The state supervision office is at 528 Monument Street B-01, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8652. Ask if an agent filed a violation warrant.
• Immigration status. The jail runs a status check within 72 hours, and ICE may lodge a detainer.
• Federal charges. Housing for federal prisoners is set by the U.S. Marshals.

Yes, though only for some charges. The state constitution promises bail to most people and forbids excessive amounts (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15). Judges may hold without bond on capital offenses, offenses punishable by life, and violent crimes the legislature lists, once they have looked at the proof and the circumstances.

• Among the listed crimes are kidnapping, murder, carjacking, first-degree burglary, second-degree burglary and armed robbery (S.C. Code 16-1-60). Except on murder, which a circuit judge must bond, a magistrate can allow or refuse bond on those.
• Death-penalty and life-sentence charges stay with a circuit judge.
• Committing a listed violent crime during a bond for another listed crime is a fresh felony, with a five-year maximum (S.C. Code 17-15-270).

The 8th Circuit Solicitor's Office handles the prosecution of serious cases from this county. Its local office is at 222 Phoenix Street, Floor 2, Greenwood, SC 29648, 864-942-8800.

They can help. Once a case is headed to General Sessions, a circuit judge may revisit any bond a magistrate or municipal judge set (S.C. Code 17-15-55). The court may also rewrite release conditions after notice to both sides and a hearing (S.C. Code 17-15-50). What relatives can do:

1. Ask the lawyer to put a bond motion in writing. Filings in this county go through the Clerk of Court, 864-942-8575.
2. Collect pay stubs, a lease or mortgage, letters from relatives, and a realistic figure the family could pay.
3. Propose conditions such as GPS tracking or an evening curfew.
4. Attend the hearing. Steady family support shows the person has reasons to come back.

For a bond set in city court, the Municipal Court Office explains its process at 864-942-8474.

South Carolina appoints counsel to anyone who cannot pay for a private attorney, unless they turn it down (S.C. Code 17-3-10). To apply, they sign a sworn financial statement and pay a $40 application fee. If paying it is a hardship, the clerk may cut or drop the charge (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

• Local public defender: 528 Monument Street, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-229-9505. This office covers Abbeville County as well.
• 8th Circuit public defender line: 864-984-8807.
• Statewide agency: South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

City court can appoint a public defender too, when the charge carries possible jail time.

These are the local courts and the federal court for the area. Hours are weekdays.

• Court of General Sessions (felonies and bigger misdemeanors), through the Clerk of Court, 528 Monument Street, Room 114, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8575, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Magistrate Court (bond hearings, small charges, preliminary hearings), 528 Monument Street, Room 100, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8655.
• City Municipal Court, Municipal Building, 520 Monument Street, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-942-8474.
• Ninety Six Municipal Court, mail to P.O. Box 8, Ninety Six, SC 29666, 864-543-3122. Town Hall stands at 120 Main Street West, Ninety Six, SC 29666.
• Ware Shoals Municipal Court, 8 Mill Street, Ware Shoals, SC 29692, 864-456-7478.
• U.S. District Court, Greenwood Division, whose Anderson courtroom is in the federal building named for Judge G. Ross Anderson, Jr., 315 South McDuffie Street, Anderson, SC 29624. Questions go to the Greenville clerk at 864-241-2700.

A court hands cash back after it has done its job (S.C. Code 17-15-220). In practice, that is when the charges wrap up and the person showed up every time they were told to. A 10 percent deposit returns once the bond terms are met, with any restitution owed to a victim taken out first (S.C. Code 17-15-15). Money paid to a bondsman as a fee stays with the bondsman.

Skipping court costs a lot:

• The judge issues an arrest order called a bench warrant.
• The bondsman then has 90 days from that warrant to produce the person, or the surety bond is forfeited (S.C. Code 38-53-70).
• Staying away on purpose is a separate crime. On a felony bond, the penalty reaches five years in prison and a $5,000 fine (S.C. Code 17-15-90).

Refund questions go to whichever office holds the money. For General Sessions cash, that is the Clerk of Court at 864-942-8575. Bring the receipt and ID.

Settle this on release day when possible. The Detention Center line, 864-943-8059, can explain how unspent commissary money is returned and when stored clothing, keys and phones can be signed out at 528 Edgefield Street, Greenwood, SC 29646.

Plan to show a photo ID. Picking up on the released person's behalf? Ask staff if that person must sign something first. Our guide to jail account money covers deposits and refunds in more depth.

Federal charges from this county fall in the Greenwood Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Judges for that division hold court in Greenville or at the federal building on 315 South McDuffie Street, Anderson, SC 29624. No clerk works in Anderson, so phone the clerk's office within Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-241-2700.

• A federal magistrate or district judge weighs jail versus home at the first appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142). Lawyers may ask for a pause first: the defense gets five days at most, the government three.
• Before trial, custody of federal detainees rests with the U.S. Marshals Service. The Greenville office, 300 East Washington Street, Room 232, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-232-1566, knows which jail holds each one.
• For a sentenced federal prisoner, try the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Bond still matters, but only for the state case. Paying it does not cancel an immigration hold. The usual sequence:

1. Federal immigration officers (ICE) deliver a detainer request on Form I-247A to the Edgefield Street jail.
2. The form requests a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE agents pick the person up. The South Carolina office is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
4. Track them through the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Have an A-number handy if possible. Otherwise type the full name and birth country.

South Carolina adds more. Within 72 hours of locking up anyone on a criminal charge, jail staff verify immigration status and notify federal homeland security officials of anyone here unlawfully (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Judges then use that status, and the chance the person runs, when setting bond (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

Ninety days or less behind bars is normally spent locally, in the county lockup (S.C. Code 24-3-30). Anything longer hands the person to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and the agency chooses the prison (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

• SCDC places every newcomer in reception and evaluation first. Families can't visit face to face then, unless that phase stretches past a month.
• Check the SCDC inmate search for the prison and SCDC number. Each morning it refreshes with the prior night's records.
• SCDC headquarters: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Our South Carolina state prisons guide describes every prison.

Under state law, a person younger than 18 counts as a child, so Family Court hears the case. The carve-out covers 17-year-olds accused of the four gravest felony classes, A down to D, or of any felony whose maximum reaches 15 years. Their cases open in General Sessions instead (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)).

• Youth can be kept in an adult lockup for six hours, no longer, and no child age ten or younger may be locked up at all (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• A judge reviews detention within 48 hours of custody, skipping weekend days and holidays in the count (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Most detained teens from here are taken to the state Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440 (visitation line).
• For local help, call the county's Department of Juvenile Justice office, 528 Monument Street, Room 202, Greenwood, SC 29646, 864-229-6648.