The detention center booked 9,227 people in 2025 and held about 623 on an average day. With that many names, a careful search saves time:

1. Pull up the Sheriff's inmate lookup.
2. Start with the last name alone. If too many people match, add the first name.
3. Check that the birth date or age lines up with who you're seeking.
4. Write down the ID number. Staff find records faster with it, and mail and deposits both need it.
5. Note any charge, bond or court details the record shows.

If nothing comes up, call the Inmate Information Center through the Sheriff's main line, 803-785-8230.

A search that turns up nothing has several possible explanations, and release is just one:

• Still in booking. Intake paperwork can lag behind the arrest.
• Already out. Bond Court meets every day, and release can follow soon after bond is posted.
• Arrested across the line. Irmo and the city of Columbia both reach into Richland County. Arrests on the Richland side may be booked at Richland's jail.
• A spelling twist. Test other spellings: a hyphen, a nickname, a name used before marriage.
• Under 18. Most youth are taken to juvenile detention instead.
• Moved. State prison, a federal hold or another county's warrant can mean a transfer.

The shift supervisor at 803-785-2743 can tell you if the person came through booking and has since left.

The county runs one detention campus at 521 Gibson Road, Lexington, SC 29072, on the same grounds as Sheriff headquarters. Its parts are:

• The old jail (1975), attached to the Sheriff's building. Youthful offenders, meaning 17-year-olds charged as adults, live in a section of it where adults can't see or hear them.
• The annex complex (1991), for people on minor charges or with a lower escape risk.
• The pod building (1998), the largest. For who is housed there, ask the jail.

All three are the Lexington County Detention Center. Booking, visitation and transport units work there too. Men and women from 17 up are held, at minimum, medium and maximum custody. The jail line is 803-785-2743.

Arrests near the county line may lead to a neighbor's jail:

• Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center (Richland), 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209, 803-576-3200
• Newberry County Detention Center, 3239 Louis Rich Drive, Newberry, SC 29108, 803-321-2141
• Saluda County Detention Center, 205 East Church Street, Saluda, SC 29138, 864-445-0286

South Carolina's open records law makes jail rosters public (S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3)). Booking photo requests go to the Sheriff's Department, 803-785-8230. Reporters ask that office as well.

• A 2016 law, S.C. Code 17-1-60, covers websites that post booking photos. When a case was dropped, erased by expungement or ended in acquittal, the site gets 30 days after a certified letter arrives to remove the photo, at no cost.
• Photos from ICE are sought through its FOIA portal.
• Federal agencies seldom release booking images. Now and then the Marshals publish one while chasing a fugitive.

Yes, if you sign up. South Carolina's VINE service texts, emails or phones you for free. It also lists where a person is locked up and whether they are still in custody.

• Search or register on VINELink South Carolina.
• Rather talk to a phone system? Dial 866-727-2846, free, in English or Spanish.
• To look someone up, type a name, an offender number or a state ID number.
• Signup is personal: jail staff won't add your name.

A victim who asks must be told of the release by the jail (S.C. Code 16-3-1530). For a quick answer on a release today, call the shift supervisor at 803-785-2743.

Bond Court sits every day, at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. on weekends and holidays. A magistrate sets bond in the Law Enforcement Complex, 521 Gibson Road, Lexington, SC 29072. The court's line is 803-785-2845.

• S.C. Code 22-5-510 sets a 24-hour deadline for that first hearing.
• Most people start with a right to release on their own promise. Money or GPS may be added.
• Magistrates can't set bond for murder or for any count exposing someone to execution or a life term. Those wait for a circuit judge.
• Jail staff take bond payments from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

Our bail page lays out bond types, bondsmen, refunds and holds.

Ask the Inmate Information Center first. It can read you the booking charges. Reach it through the Sheriff's main line at 803-785-8230.

After the case reaches court, a name search on the county's Public Index pulls it up. The Clerk of Court's criminal desk can help at 803-785-8553.

The final charges in a felony case are up to the Eleventh Circuit Solicitor's Office, 205 East Main Street, Suite 309, Lexington, SC 29072, 803-785-8352. Penalty ceilings follow the class, from 5 years for Class F up to 30 for Class A (S.C. Code 16-1-20).

At Bond Court, the person can say they can't afford a lawyer. The Eleventh Circuit Public Defender's Office handles those cases from 202 East Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072, 803-785-8873.

• To apply, call the Clerk of Court's office at 803-785-8549 and ask for the public defender application.
• Applicants swear to their income, debts and assets on a form (S.C. Code 17-3-45).
• A $40 fee comes with it. The clerk can reduce or waive it when money is tight (S.C. Code 17-3-30).
• Relatives can retain private counsel instead, at any stage.

Visits happen two ways. Video from home is far more common: in 2025 the jail logged 15,694 remote visits and 2,786 on site.

• On site: Monday to Friday, 8 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. No weekend lobby visits.
• Remote video: every day, 9 to 11 a.m., 1 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m.
• Both kinds are booked ahead through the jail's online visit scheduler.

Rules to know before you go:

• Arrive 15 minutes early with a photo ID. A student ID works, and children need one too.
• No more than two adults per visit. Kids under 12 may only visit by video from home. Ages 12 to 17 need an adult with them.
• Wear shoes and a shirt. Skip tank tops, short shorts, short skirts, swimwear and tight or revealing clothes.
• Bring only your ID and keys. Phones, purses, food and drinks stay outside.
• A person released from the jail waits six months before visiting someone inside.
• People on disciplinary status get remote visits only, Wednesday and Sunday evenings, three a week at most.

Visitation questions go to 803-785-2744. Our visiting page explains how scheduling works.

People held at the jail can't keep cash. Their account pays for canteen items like snacks, writing paper, stamped envelopes, hygiene items and underwear. Funds can arrive two ways:

• Online, using the deposit service linked from the Sheriff's Detention Bureau page. Our inmate money page walks through it.
• Postal money order, naming the person and showing the ID number, mailed to Lexington County Detention Center, P.O. Box 2019, Lexington, SC 29071.

Deposits are capped at $140 a day. For account questions, call 803-785-2740. What can be bought is covered on our commissary page.

Inmates can call out, but they can't take incoming calls. To fund calls, phone the jail line at 803-785-2743 and choose the menu option about phone accounts.

• Staff won't pass along everyday messages.
• For a real family emergency, such as a death or a serious illness, call the shift supervisor at that same jail line. Staff check it before telling the person.
• Rates and rules for calls are on our jail phone page. For electronic messaging, see our inmate email page and ask the jail what it allows.

Letters and photos are scanned and delivered on screen, so they go to a processing center in Florida. Use this format:

Smart Communications / Lexington County Detention Center
INMATE NAME - ID NUMBER
PO Box 9108, Seminole, FL 33775-9108

Legal mail, court papers, bank statements, money orders and approved publications go to the jail itself:

Inmate Name and ID Number
Lexington County Detention Center
P.O. Box 2019, Lexington, SC 29071

Always include the ID number, since the jail's address format calls for it. Our jail mail page explains what is usually allowed.

Items taken at booking are stored until release. The jail doesn't accept clothing or other property dropped off for an inmate.

• Ask the jail how and when stored items are returned at release.
• Picking up items for a person still in custody? Phone the shift supervisor at 803-785-2743 first, and ask if the inmate has to sign anything to allow it.
• A towed car goes back to its registered owner at the Sheriff's headquarters lobby, open around the clock. Bring ID and expect a $150 impound fee and $25 per storage day.

A contracted medical team works at the jail 24 hours a day. Its health care has held national accreditation since 2008.

• Doctors see patients on site, and emergencies are sent out to a hospital.
• Some dental care is offered.
• A mental health caseworker works seven days a week, with someone on call after hours.
• Treatment programs include substance use classes and a buprenorphine taper program.

If you're worried about someone's health or safety, call the shift supervisor at 803-785-2743. The medical unit's number is 803-951-3490. Privacy rules may limit what staff can share.

Deputies serve county warrants, and each town's police serve warrants from that town. During business hours, the Sheriff's Warrant Division is at 803-785-2499. At night, use the county's non-emergency number, 803-785-2521. Statewide, scan the SCDPPPS fugitive roster plus the Marshals' 15 Most Wanted list. Magistrate clerks also run name checks by phone or at their window. Anyone named in a warrant should line up a lawyer first and then surrender to whichever court issued it. Calling that court for a new date is another route. The Clerk of Court sits at 205 East Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072, 803-785-8212.

Three free county tools list hearings:

• Summary court dockets for magistrate and traffic dates.
• Circuit court rosters for General Sessions felony dates.
• The Public Index, searched by name, for the whole case file.

Prefer to ask a person? The Docket Clerk answers at 803-785-8583. Missing even one date can bring a bench warrant, so keep checking. Our court guide explains each step.

Federal cases from the county are heard in Columbia, in the U.S. courthouse honoring Matthew J. Perry, Jr., at 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201. The clerk's number is 803-765-5816.

1. Early in the case, a federal judge rules on freedom or detention pending trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Until trial, the Marshals rent beds in local jails for federal prisoners. Their Columbia office can say which one: 901 Richland Street, Suite 1300, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-5821.
3. While held in a county jail, the person may show up in that jail's own lookup.
4. Sentenced federal prisoners shift to BOP custody. Its online locator accepts a name or a register number.

An immigration hold works on a separate track from the state charges. Step by step:

1. ICE faxes or delivers a Form I-247A detainer to Gibson Road.
2. Under 8 CFR 287.7(d), jailers may then keep the person up to 48 hours beyond the usual release point.
3. Within that window, officers move them to federal custody.
4. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Enter the alien registration number, otherwise a full name together with the birth nation.
5. Nothing found? Phone ICE's South Carolina field office at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

South Carolina jailers have three days, per S.C. Code 23-3-1100, to confirm the immigration standing of each criminal booking, and any finding otherwise goes to Homeland Security. At bond, a judge also considers that status and any danger of flight (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

A judge's sentence of more than 90 days hands the person to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (S.C. Code 24-3-20). Anything shorter is normally done locally.

• Every new SCDC prisoner starts at a reception and evaluation center. Lobby visits begin once that's finished, or after 30 days if it drags on.
• An SCDC ID number is assigned within one week.
• Search by name in the SCDC's public inmate search, refreshed through midnight of the prior day.
• Questions: SCDC, 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500. Custody alerts: the SC VINE line, 866-727-2846.
• Our South Carolina state prisons pages cover each prison.

Under South Carolina law, most people younger than 18 count as children and are handled in Family Court. Seventeen-year-olds lose that status when the alleged felony is Class A through D, or carries a maximum of 15 years or longer (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). At the detention center, those 17-year-olds are housed away from adults.

• A six-hour ceiling applies to holding any child inside an adult lockup (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• Most youth held before court go to the Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440.
• To locate a child, call the county office of the Department of Juvenile Justice, 605 West Main Street, Lexington, SC 29072, 803-359-5526.

Census figures put the county's headcount near 317,588 (estimate for July 1, 2025), and policing is split among many agencies.

Sheriff's Department (unincorporated areas and towns without their own officers):

• Headquarters, 521 Gibson Road, Lexington, SC 29072, 803-785-8230, front desk open around the clock
• West Region office, which also covers Gilbert, 4079-D Augusta Highway, Gilbert, SC 29054, 803-785-7508
• South Region Command Office, covering areas such as Edmund, Gaston and Boiling Springs, 102 Airport Road, Pelion, SC 29123, 803-785-7688
• County 911 center non-emergency line, 434 Ball Park Road, Lexington, SC 29072, 803-785-2521

Towns near Columbia:

• West Columbia Police Department, 200 N. 12th Street, West Columbia, SC 29169, 803-794-0721
• Cayce Department of Public Safety, 2 Lavern Jumper Rd., Cayce, SC 29033, 803-794-0456
• Springdale Police Department, non-emergency 803-796-3160, at Town Hall, 2909 Platt Springs Rd., Springdale, SC 29170
• South Congaree Police Department, 803-755-2760
• Irmo Police Department, front desk 803-781-8088. Irmo spans both Lexington and Richland counties.
• Columbia Police Department, for parts of the city inside this county, 1 Justice Square, Columbia, SC 29201, non-emergency 803-252-2911

Other towns: Batesburg-Leesville Police Department works from 660 West Columbia Avenue, Batesburg-Leesville, SC 29006. For Batesburg-Leesville, Chapin, Pine Ridge, Swansea, Pelion, Gaston, Summit and the town of Lexington, ask the Sheriff's front desk which agency made the arrest.

State: South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 1, 1626 Shop Road, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-8340.