In South Carolina, the possible punishment decides the court:

• Magistrate Court, with offices in Varnville and Estill, tries charges carrying a fine of $500 or under, 30 days or under, or both (S.C. Code 22-3-550). Shoplifting of $2,000 or less also lands here, with a fine as high as $1,000 (S.C. Code 16-13-110). Magistrate juries seat six (S.C. Code 22-3-545).
• Municipal Court takes those same low-level charges when town police make the arrest within town lines (S.C. Code 14-25-65).
• Court of General Sessions, the circuit court's criminal branch, tries felonies and the more serious misdemeanors for crimes that happened in the county.
• Family Court handles anyone younger than 18.
• U.S. District Court handles crimes under federal law.

Circuit judges and the Solicitor here serve the 14th Judicial Circuit, made up of Allendale, Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton and Jasper counties (S.C. Code 14-5-610).

Three offices carry almost every criminal case. Hours shift, so phone first.

• Clerk of Court, General Sessions and Family Court: 1 Courthouse Square Elm Street, Hampton, SC 29924, 803-914-2250. Direct court clerk line: 803-914-2253. Mail: P.O. Box 7, Hampton, SC 29924. Open normal business hours, Monday to Friday.
• Varnville Magistrate Court: 411 Cemetery Road, Varnville, SC 29944, 803-914-2230. Mail: P.O. Box 1299, Varnville, SC 29944.
• Estill Magistrate Court: 803-625-3232. Mail: P.O. Box 969, Estill, SC 29918. Phone for directions to the courtroom.

Criminal domestic violence cases, the county says, are now heard as part of the 14th Circuit's court. The Clerk of Court can tell you the room and date for one.

Four towns have a municipal court, which hears charges written by town police inside town lines.

• Town of Hampton Municipal Court: Town Hall, 608 First Street West, Hampton, SC 29924, 803-943-9364. Staff answer weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Court meets at 5:30 p.m. on the first and second Mondays, skipping holidays.
• Estill Municipal Court: P.O. Box 415, Estill, SC 29918, 803-625-3243.
• Gifford Municipal Court: Post Office Drawer 189, Gifford, SC 29923, 803-625-2712.
• Brunson Municipal Court: 803-632-3633.

Charged in Varnville, Yemassee or somewhere else? Phone the Varnville Magistrate Court, 803-914-2230, to learn which bench has the case. Rural arrests outside any town go to the magistrates.

Bond gets decided fast: by law, a magistrate or a town judge hears it no later than 24 hours from arrest (S.C. Code 22-5-510). Booked overnight? The county says the judge sees the person the following day. Daytime bond court runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., every day of the week.

• The officer who made the arrest tells the person what the charges are.
• After booking, the jail lets the person place a phone call.
• The judge sets the bond amount and any rules, guided by the record police hand over.
• Police try to give the alleged victim notice, and the victim may come and be heard (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).
• The person can ask, right then, for a public defender.

On a charge beyond the magistrate's power, the defense can ask for a preliminary hearing, but only within 10 days after bond is set (Rule 2(a), SCRCrimP). There, a magistrate tests the State's proof before the case climbs to General Sessions.

Low-level cases stay in Varnville, Estill or a town courtroom. A ticket or a magistrate's arrest warrant usually starts them. The defendant then pleads. Denying the charge sends the case to trial before the judge or six jurors.

• Third-degree assault and battery (S.C. Code 16-3-600): a $500 fine at most, 30 days at most, or both.
• Shoplifting valued at $2,000 or less (S.C. Code 16-13-110): a $1,000 fine at most, 30 days at most, or both.
• Higher misdemeanors go to General Sessions. Class A allows 3 years, Class B 2 and Class C 1 (S.C. Code 16-1-20).

Unhappy with a magistrate's criminal ruling? The county gives 10 days to file a written appeal notice. Copies go to the other side, the magistrate court and the circuit court. Drivers with small tickets and young people with alcohol charges may qualify for a Solicitor program that ends in dismissal.

A felony climbs from the magistrate up to the circuit court. Typical stages:

1. Bond hearing in front of a magistrate, except for the charges only a circuit judge may bond.
2. Preliminary hearing in magistrate court, when the defense asks within 10 days of bond court.
3. General Sessions. The file moves to the Elm Street courthouse, and the 14th Circuit Solicitor takes over as prosecutor.
4. Plea or trial. Many felonies settle with a plea. The rest go before a jury.
5. Sentence handed down by a circuit judge.

How long a felony sentence can run depends on its class. Class A can bring 30 years. B can draw 25; C, 20 (S.C. Code 16-1-20). Classes D and E stop at 15 and 10 years, and Class F at five. Stealing from a store more than $2,000 but under $10,000 can mean five years. Above that line, ten (S.C. Code 16-13-110).

Serious charges trigger tighter rules from bond to sentencing:

• Bond. Charges that could end in execution or a life sentence go to a circuit judge for bond, never to the Varnville or Estill magistrate (S.C. Code 22-5-510). Murder carries death, or 30 years up to life (S.C. Code 16-3-20).
• The violent list. For armed robbery, first-degree burglary and the other listed violent crimes, a magistrate is allowed to refuse bond (S.C. Code 16-1-60).
• Arrested again while on bond. A second violent or gun felony ends the first bond at once, with a circuit court hearing inside 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55). Committing violence while out on a violent-crime bond adds its own felony, punishable by five years at most (S.C. Code 17-15-270).
• No PTI. Violent crimes and DUI are shut out of Pretrial Intervention (S.C. Code 17-22-50).
• Domestic violence. For some of these charges, the victim gets notice before a cash deposit can stand in for a pledge (S.C. Code 22-5-530).

The 14th Circuit Solicitor's Office handles General Sessions prosecutions here. The Hampton branch is at 1 Elm Street West, Hampton, SC 29924, 843-779-8689, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Headquarters sits at 108 Traders Cross, Okatie, SC 29909, 843-779-8477. Bounced checks are handled by its Worthless Check Unit, 1 Courthouse Square, Hampton, SC 29924, 803-914-2175.

Defendants who can't hire a lawyer are assigned one by the 14th Circuit Public Defender. Its local office is in the Annex Building, 1 Elm Street West, Hampton, SC 29924, 803-914-2242. Applicants swear to their finances and owe a $40 fee, which the clerk may shrink or forgive (S.C. Code 17-3-30). Statewide oversight comes from the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

Frequently. The Solicitor controls who enters these programs, and the court makes the referral.

• Pretrial Intervention (PTI) serves first-time, nonviolent defendants, one time per lifetime anywhere in the state. It costs $100 to apply and $250 on acceptance, by cashier's check or money order (S.C. Code 17-22-110). Finish PTI and the charge is dropped, after which the record may be expunged (S.C. Code 17-22-150).
• Traffic Education Program fits tickets under four points, never DUI. The $280 fee covers a four-hour defensive driving course, plus four hours of service work, all inside 45 days.
• Alcohol Education Program serves people under 21 facing some alcohol charges, also never DUI. It costs $250.

Paperwork can be picked up or turned in at the Hampton courthouse every Monday and Friday. The Solicitor's program line is 843-779-8477, and staff can explain the circuit's drug court too.

The county's Public Index pulls up cases by party name or case number. For which jail holds someone, use the jail line instead.

Prefer the phone? Felony dates: Clerk of Court, 803-914-2250. Magistrate dates: Varnville, 803-914-2230, or Estill, 803-625-3232. Town of Hampton dates: 803-943-9364. Callers should have the defendant's name, date of birth and ticket or warrant number.

Deputies serve warrants countywide. Call the Sheriff's Office at 803-914-2200 and ask for Records. Town officers serve warrants inside their towns, and magistrates sign them. Open cases appear on the Public Index. Wanted parole and probation violators show up on PPP's Most Wanted roster, plus the federal Marshals Service fugitive list. Ending one usually starts with a defense lawyer's call. Next comes a walk-in surrender, or a call asking the issuing judge's staff to reschedule. Varnville's magistrates sit at 411 Cemetery Road, Varnville, SC 29944, 803-914-2230.

On federal charges, the county is part of the Beaufort Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Its hearings take place at the J. Waties Waring Judicial Center, 83 Meeting Street, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-579-1401, where the clerk works weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

• Lawyers argue jail against release at a detention hearing, usually within days (18 U.S.C. 3142).
• The U.S. Marshals Service, 85 Broad Street, Room 260, Charleston, SC 29401, 843-727-4255, transports federal defendants and houses them pretrial, frequently in county jails.
• After sentencing, use the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

The state charge moves ahead on its own track, and the detainer sits quietly in the jail file until bond is posted or the sentence ends.

1. The Cemetery Road jail receives Form I-247A from ICE.
2. That detainer seeks a hold of up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. ICE picks the person up. Its South Carolina office is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
4. Follow the case on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

On Cemetery Road, as at every South Carolina jail, staff have 72 hours from a criminal booking to look into immigration status (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Anyone unlawfully present is reported to Homeland Security, and the bond judge weighs that status along with flight risk (S.C. Code 22-5-510).

Sentences of three months or shorter generally stay in the county jail (S.C. Code 24-3-30). Longer terms go to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and SCDC chooses the prison (S.C. Code 24-3-20).

• Reception and evaluation, SCDC's intake, comes first. In-person visits wait until it ends, unless it takes longer than 30 days.
• The SCDC inmate search shows the assigned prison.
• SCDC's main office: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Rules for each state prison are in our SC prison listings.

Family Court hears most charges against anyone under 18. Not so for 17-year-olds whose felony sits in the top four classes, A to D, or carries a possible 15 years. Their cases start in General Sessions (S.C. Code 63-19-20). The Family Court clerk answers at 803-914-2254.

• No child may stay past six hours in the Cemetery Road jail, and a child aged ten or less can't be put there (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• A Family Court judge must review the detention in two working days (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Some 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds facing grave felonies can be waived up to General Sessions by a Family Court judge (S.C. Code 63-19-1210).
• Youth who are held usually go to DJJ's Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440.

DJJ's office for this county is at 1 Courthouse Square Elm St., Hampton, SC 29924, 803-943-4296.

Victims in South Carolina have a constitutional right to hear about bond hearings and to speak there (S.C. Const. art. I, § 24). Police have to make a fair attempt to warn the victim of the arrest and of bond court, and a judge must postpone a hearing when notice was late (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).

• Victims report crimes and ask about warrants at the Sheriff's Office, Law Enforcement Center, 411 Cemetery Road, Varnville, SC 29944, 803-914-2200. A magistrate then rules on probable cause.
• Free custody alerts, in English or Spanish, come through VINELink South Carolina or 866-727-2846.
• The Attorney General's Victim Advocacy Division can be reached at 803-737-3739.

Relatives should leave the victim alone, and never pass along a note or word from the jail. Doing so can violate bond conditions and land the person back in a cell.