In South Carolina, the possible punishment decides which court gets a case.

• Magistrate Court (countywide): crimes capped at $500 in fines, 30 days, or both (S.C. Code 22-3-550). It also hears shoplifting of $2,000 or less, where the fine can climb to $1,000 (S.C. Code 16-13-110).
• Municipal Court (inside towns with a court of their own): the identical $500 and 30-day ceiling (S.C. Code 14-25-65).
• Court of General Sessions: the criminal side of circuit court. Felonies and higher misdemeanors are tried here, in the county where the offense occurred.
• Family Court: most charges against anyone younger than 18.

Together, magistrate and town courts are called "summary courts." Besides small trials, they handle bond and preliminary hearings.

Much of the court business happens at the County Judicial and Services Center on Hillcrest Square. Hours listed are Monday to Friday.

• Clerk of Court, for General Sessions and Family Court files: 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite B, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-3538, business hours. Postal mail: P.O. Box 287, Laurens, SC 29360.
• Magistrate Court: 864-681-5689, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Clinton Municipal Court: 211 North Broad Street, Clinton, SC 29325; payment window 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
• Gray Court Municipal Court: Gray Court Town Hall, 329 West Main Street, Gray Court, SC 29645.
• Federal court: 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601 (Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. U.S. Courthouse), 864-241-2700, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Hearing rooms vary, so ask magistrate staff where your person's hearing will be held.

Yes. Each town has a municipal judge for arrests made inside its limits.

• Clinton Municipal Court: 211 North Broad Street, Clinton, SC 29325, with mail to Suite A at that address. The window runs 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. on weekdays and takes cash, certified checks and money orders in person. Clinton's mail-in rule: money order or cashier's check only, ticket number on the memo line.
• Gray Court Municipal Court: Gray Court Town Hall, 329 West Main Street, Gray Court, SC 29645. Fines and guilty pleas are handled in person on weekdays, paid in cash, certified check or money order. The town contracts with the Sheriff's Office for its policing.

For tickets or arrests inside the City of Laurens or Cross Hill, ask the Clerk of Court at 864-984-3538 or the magistrate's office at 864-681-5689 which judge has it. City of Laurens offices: 126 East Public Square, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-3933.

Under S.C. Code 22-5-510(B), a bond hearing comes within 24 hours of arrest. Here the Sheriff's Office lists bond court for 9 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and county holidays. Weekday times come from the Johnson Detention Center, 864-683-4055.

• The judge, usually a magistrate, reads each charge aloud and rules on bond. A circuit judge takes over if death or a life sentence is possible.
• Arresting officers hand over the person's record and pending cases (S.C. Code 22-5-510(E)).
• Victims are notified and may address the court (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).
• This is a good moment to ask for a public defender.

For charges too serious for magistrate trial, a court rule lets the defense request a preliminary hearing. That request is due 10 days after the bond hearing (Rule 2(a), SCRCrimP). At the hearing, the magistrate tests the evidence before the case can go on.

Third-degree assault and battery and low-dollar shoplifting are frequent arrests in summary court.

• Third-degree assault and battery: $500 and 30 days at most (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2)).
• Shoplifting of $2,000 or under: $1,000 and 30 days at most (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B)).

From there, the person can admit the charge, fight it at trial, or try diversion. Magistrate juries seat six people who must all agree (S.C. Code 22-3-545). Misdemeanors with longer terms belong to General Sessions. Under S.C. Code 16-1-20, those classes reach three years (A), two years (B) and one year (C).

The Alcohol Education Program (S.C. Code 17-22-520 and 17-22-550) serves people 17 to 20 charged with alcohol offenses, for $250. A Traffic Education Program covers some low-point traffic tickets.

Felonies here are tried in General Sessions for the Eighth Judicial Circuit, which Laurens shares with Abbeville, Greenwood and Newberry (S.C. Code 14-5-610). Most cases follow this path:

1. Arrest on a warrant, then bond court the same day or the next.
2. A preliminary hearing, when the defense requests it inside the 10-day window.
3. Transfer to General Sessions, prosecuted by the Solicitor's office.
4. Talks between the two sides, ending in a plea, a diversion program or a trial.
5. Sentencing after a guilty plea or verdict.

Each felony class has its own ceiling (S.C. Code 16-1-20). The longest, for Class A, is 30 years, and Class F is the shortest at 5. Between those two sit Class B (25 years), C (20 years), D (15 years) and E (10 years). Shoplifting worth more than $2,000 and under $10,000 is a five-year felony, and $10,000 or more is a ten-year felony.

General Sessions files are with the Clerk of Court, 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite B, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-3538.

S.C. Code 16-1-60 lists the crimes counted as violent, among them murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, carjacking, first- and second-degree burglary, first- and second-degree arson, and first- or second-degree criminal sexual conduct. A 2026 Act No. 138 change added shooting at or into dwellings and similar structures.

• Magistrates may refuse bond on a listed violent charge. Only a circuit judge sets bond where death or life imprisonment is possible.
• Murder is punished by death or 30 years to life (S.C. Code 16-3-20(A)).
• Already out on bond for a violent or firearm felony and arrested on another? The old bond ends automatically, and circuit court reviews it within 30 days (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).
• Pretrial Intervention (S.C. Code 17-22-50) excludes violent charges.

Prosecution in General Sessions belongs to the Eighth Circuit Solicitor. Local office: 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite N, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-2202. Circuit headquarters: 222 Phoenix Street, 2nd Floor, Greenwood, SC 29648, 864-942-8800. Website: scsolicitor8.gov.

If money is the problem, the Public Defender for the Eighth Circuit steps in from its local office at 100 Hillcrest Square, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-8807. Applicants complete a sworn financial form (S.C. Code 17-3-45) and owe $40, an amount the clerk may reduce or excuse (S.C. Code 17-3-30). Statewide oversight: South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

With the Solicitor's approval, yes. The Eighth Circuit runs Pretrial Intervention (PTI), Drug Court, Veterans Court, the Alcohol Education Program and the Traffic Education Program. Completing one ends in dismissal, after which the person may seek expungement (S.C. Code 17-22-150).

• PTI suits first-time, nonviolent defendants. DUI and violent offenses are barred (S.C. Code 17-22-50).
• PTI costs a $100 application fee and a $250 participation fee, $350 in all, and the fees can be waived for those unable to pay (S.C. Code 17-22-110).

Bring up diversion with the defense lawyer early. The Solicitor's Greenwood headquarters answers program questions at 864-942-8800.

Phone whichever office handles the case. Keep the birth date and full legal name handy.

• General Sessions or Family Court: Clerk of Court, 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite B, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-3538. Copies cost 50 cents a page.
• Magistrate Court: 864-681-5689, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.
• Gray Court: Town Hall keeps the court calendar, 329 West Main Street, Gray Court, SC 29645.
• Clinton: stop by the window at 211 North Broad Street, Clinton, SC 29325.
• Still jailed: Booking, 864-683-4783, has the next date on record.

Countywide, Sheriff's deputies carry out arrest and bench warrants; Laurens and Clinton officers handle them in town. For warrant questions, phone the Sheriff's front desk, 864-984-4967. The Clerk of Court holds General Sessions warrants. State and national wanted pages: state probation agency's Most Wanted Offenders; U.S. Marshals 15 Most Wanted. Resolving it starts with a lawyer, then surrendering before the issuing court or phoning it to reschedule. Clerk of Court: 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite B, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-3538.

Federally, the county sits in the Greenville Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina. Hearings take place at 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601 (Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. U.S. Courthouse), 864-241-2700.

• Detention is argued at the first federal appearance (18 U.S.C. 3142). Defense lawyers may get up to five extra days; prosecutors may get three.
• Federal pretrial detainees are held by the U.S. Marshals. Their Greenville office: 300 East Washington Street, Room 232, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-232-1566.
• Following sentencing, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

It can shape bond and what happens when the state case closes.

1. ICE lodges Form I-247A, a detainer, with the Johnson Detention Center.
2. Staff may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. S.C. Code 23-3-1100 has jails try, within 72 hours of a criminal booking, to learn if the person is unlawfully present; a positive finding goes on to federal Homeland Security officials. Bond judges weigh unlawful presence and flight risk (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).
4. ICE collects the person. The agency's South Carolina office: 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
5. Track them on the ICE Online Detainee Locator.

Guilty pleas can trigger immigration trouble. Anyone who isn't a citizen should say so to their lawyer right away.

If the term is 90 days or shorter, it is usually served in county custody. Longer terms go to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), which assigns the prison (S.C. Code 24-3-20, 24-3-30).

• Reception and evaluation comes first for every new SCDC prisoner. In-person visits resume after it, or sooner if it lasts beyond 30 days.
• Locate a state prisoner through the SCDC inmate search or the SC VINE custody line, 866-727-2846.
• SCDC main office: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Each SCDC institution has a profile among our South Carolina state prisons pages.
• After prison, supervision falls to the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite S, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-4564.

Family Court takes cases against people under 18. At 17, the most serious felonies go to adult court instead (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)).

• Detention gets a Family Court hearing inside 48 hours (S.C. Code 63-19-830), a count that skips weekends and holidays.
• Youths who must be held usually stay at the Juvenile Detention Complex of the Department of Juvenile Justice, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440 (visitation line).
• Some teens ages 14 to 16 face serious felony charges. After a waiver hearing, a Family Court judge may move those cases up to General Sessions (S.C. Code 63-19-1210).
• Juvenile PTI and Juvenile Arbitration through the Eighth Circuit can resolve some first cases.

Family Court filings go to the Clerk of Court. DJJ's local office: 100 Hillcrest Square, Suite J, Laurens, SC 29360, 864-984-2518.

Under S.C. Const. art. I, § 24, victims may learn about hearings, speak at bond hearings, confer with the prosecutor and collect restitution. Officers must try to tell victims of the arrest and of bond court; notice that arrives late forces the judge to postpone (S.C. Code 16-3-1525).

• Custody alerts at no cost: VINELink South Carolina, or 866-727-2846 in English or Spanish.
• Victim Advocacy Division, Office of the Attorney General: 1000 Assembly Street, Room 519, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-3739.

Family members of the accused should never phone, text or send word through friends to the victim. Contact can violate bond and bring fresh charges.