Marion County Detention Center Inmate Bail & Bonds

For nearly everyone booked at the Detention Center, a magistrate decides bond. Bond court belongs to the Magistrate's Office, 2715 East Highway 76, Suite B, Mullins, SC 29574, 843-292-5238. That office shares the Highway 76 complex with the jail. Court is held seven days a week:

• Weekdays: 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
• Saturdays, Sundays and holidays: 9:00 a.m.

A busy magistrate can push a session later. A hearing may also be held back so a victim who asks to attend has time to arrive. Until bond is set, most new arrivals wait in the booking holding area.

South Carolina requires the hearing within 24 hours of an arrest. Once the bond is delivered, the clock starts: four hours is the most the jail may take to let the person out (S.C. Code 22-5-510). On charges written in a town court, the town judge may set bond as well (S.C. Code 14-25-115).

South Carolina's constitution protects bail for most defendants (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15). Jail staff say bonds here are most often cash, surety or 10 percent. A judge can pick from this full menu:

• Personal recognizance. Your person signs a pledge to appear and owes nothing today. For every charge that is not capital, the law begins from this point (S.C. Code 17-15-10).
• Cash. You pay the whole bond yourself. A cash deposit left with the magistrate or town judge may be used instead of the pledge (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Surety. A licensed bondsman guarantees the total and charges your family for that promise.
• Ten percent. If the judge permits, you may put down cash worth up to 10 percent of the bond with the court. People charged with violent crimes, or with a gun felony while already on bond, cannot use it (S.C. Code 17-15-15).
• GPS monitoring. An ankle monitor can replace money bond or ride along with it (S.C. Code 17-15-35).

Three terms come with every bond: appear in court each time, remain in South Carolina and stay on good behavior (S.C. Code 17-15-20). Extra conditions can be added after notice and a hearing (S.C. Code 17-15-50).

Bond amounts in this county are not printed on a chart. The magistrate weighs the charge, any criminal record, work, family, finances, years spent living nearby and earlier no-shows in court. Pending charges, an existing bond on another case and any gang database listing must be considered too (S.C. Code 17-15-30). Felony bonds tend to run higher, jail staff say. Here is how familiar charges stack up:

• Assault and battery, third degree: a low-level charge capped at $500 and 30 days (S.C. Code 16-3-600(E)(2)).
• Shoplifting, $2,000 or less: tried in summary court, capped at $1,000 and 30 days.
• Shoplifting, more than $2,000: a felony. Below $10,000 the cap is five years. From $10,000 up, it is ten years (S.C. Code 16-13-110(B)).
• Listed violent crimes, second-degree burglary for example: bond may be granted or denied by the magistrate (S.C. Code 16-1-60).
• Murder, or a charge that could mean life behind bars: bond is a circuit judge's job.
• Traffic cases with a cash fine: paying the fine at the Magistrate's Office often settles them.

The amount set for your person is available from the Magistrate's Office at 843-292-5238 once bond court is over.

The jail lobby is not where bond is paid. Both cash and surety bonds are handled at the Magistrate's Office. Work through it like this:

1. Look up your person on the current inmate list. Copy down the exact name and the inmate ID number.
2. Let bond court finish. Then phone 843-292-5238 for the dollar figure and which type was ordered.
3. Head to 2715 East Highway 76, Suite B, Mullins, SC 29574. Bonds are taken there Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., closed on holidays.
4. Pay the amount in cash, with a money order or by major credit card. A bondsman you hired files the surety bond at the same counter.
5. Magistrate staff prepare the release order and route it to booking.
6. At the jail, officers verify the order, run an NCIC check, search for other warrants and notify any victim. Half an hour is typical, but some releases run past an hour, and the law allows up to four.

Officers change shifts at 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., and movement slows then, so releases near those hours can lag. Line up a ride, because nobody is driven home from the jail. When bond is set on a weekend or holiday, call the Magistrate's Office to ask how and when payment can be made.

The Magistrate's Office at 843-292-5238 handles most bonds, but two other offices may come into play.

Bonds on town charges can be set and accepted by the town judge (S.C. Code 14-25-115). If a town police officer made the arrest, ring that town's court and ask where its bonds get paid:

• Marion Municipal Court, 1024 S. Main St., Marion, SC 29571, 843-423-8616
• Mullins Municipal Court, 151 E. Front St., Mullins, SC 29574, 843-464-0707
• Nichols Municipal Court, 514 West Mullins Street, Nichols, SC 29581, 843-526-2193
• Sellers Municipal Court, 2552 Hwy 301, Sellers, SC 29592, 843-752-5009

Under state law, a 10 percent deposit is made with the clerk of court (S.C. Code 17-15-15). The Clerk of Court sits at 1305 N Main St, Marion, SC 29571, 843-423-8240, weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Before you go, ask the Magistrate's Office which counter should get your deposit.

The Magistrate's Office, 2715 East Highway 76, Suite B, Mullins, SC 29574, takes bond money in three forms:

• Cash
• Money orders
• Major credit cards

Personal checks are turned away. Before driving over, ask whether a card fee applies and how to fill out the payee on a money order. The Magistrate's online payment link serves traffic tickets, so expect to handle bond face to face. Reach the office at 843-292-5238.

A bondsman, or surety, pledges the whole bond to the court on your person's behalf. The family pays a fee for that pledge, known as the premium. The Detention Center will not recommend any bonding company or share contact details for one. Once bond court ends, the person inside may phone a bondsman and relatives.

State law keeps bondsmen in check (S.C. Code 38-53-170):

• A license from the South Carolina Department of Insurance is required.
• The premium is limited by law to 15 percent of the bond. Its minimum is the larger of $100 or 10 percent.
• Payment plans start with at least $100 down and last 18 months at most.
• Bondsmen may not drum up business at courthouses, magistrate offices or jails, and steering you to a lawyer is forbidden too.
• Think of the premium as the bondsman's earnings. You will not see it again.

Complaints go to the South Carolina Department of Insurance, 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-6160.

Posting bond is a big step, though not always the final one. Watch for these holds:

• Warrants elsewhere. Officers search the magistrate system before letting anyone go. A warrant from some other court or county can mean a fresh hold.
• Charging papers on the way. An arresting agency may keep someone for as long as 24 hours while its charging documents arrive.
• Supervision violations. A probation or parole problem may trigger a hold from the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, 293 Greystone Boulevard, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-734-9220. Local offices appear in its county office directory.
• Immigration. With an ICE detainer, the jail may hold someone up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released.
• A second violent or gun felony. If a person on bond for one such felony is arrested on another, the law cancels the first bond, and within 30 days a circuit court takes up the case (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).

To learn what is holding your person, call the jail at 843-423-0121.

Our state constitution allows bail to be denied in three groups of cases, with due weight given to the evidence (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15):

• Capital charges, where death is a possible sentence
• Charges where life in prison is possible
• Violent offenses listed by name in state law (S.C. Code 16-1-60)

Magistrates are barred from setting bond for murder or for any charge that could bring execution or life imprisonment (S.C. Code 22-5-510(A)). Those hearings belong to a circuit judge, so families often wait longer. On the other listed violent offenses, the magistrate decides between a bond and no bond. Bail can never be excessive.

The 12th Circuit Solicitor's Office handles prosecution of serious cases here. When it asks a circuit judge to revoke or modify a bond, an emergency hearing can happen within 48 hours (S.C. Code 17-15-55(B)). The local office is at 101 Court St., Marion, SC 29571, 843-431-5040. The main office is at 180 N. Irby St., Florence, SC 29501, 843-665-3091.

If the figure is out of reach, a lawyer can request a second look. A circuit judge can revisit bond on any charge that belongs in General Sessions, even when a magistrate or town judge set it (S.C. Code 17-15-55). Conditions can be changed too, after notice and a hearing (S.C. Code 17-15-50).

1. Ask your person's lawyer, appointed or hired, to file for a bond review.
2. Gather pay stubs, proof of a home nearby and the names of relatives who rely on your person. Judges weigh exactly these ties.
3. The review happens in the Court of General Sessions. Its case files sit with the Clerk of Court, 1305 N Main St, Marion, SC 29571, 843-423-8240.

Ask the lawyer up front whether a review has a real chance.

A court will appoint a lawyer for someone who is unable to pay one (S.C. Code 17-3-10). The applicant fills out a sworn statement of finances and pays a $40 application fee. If paying it is not possible, the clerk may reduce or drop the fee (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

• Public defender office for this county: 221 North Main Street, Marion, SC 29571, 843-423-3303
• South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense: 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343

Apply right away, so counsel can help with bond and those first court dates. Hiring a private attorney stays an option throughout the case.

Different stages of a case play out in different places:

• Magistrate's Office, home of bond court, minor charges and preliminary hearings: 2715 East Highway 76, Suite B, Mullins, SC 29574, 843-292-5238
• Court of General Sessions and Family Court, reached through the Clerk of Court: 1305 N Main St, Marion, SC 29571, 843-423-8240
• Marion Municipal Court: 1024 S. Main St., Marion, SC 29571, 843-423-8616
• Mullins Municipal Court: 151 E. Front St., Mullins, SC 29574, 843-464-0707
• Nichols Municipal Court: 514 West Mullins Street, Nichols, SC 29581, 843-526-2193
• Sellers Municipal Court: 2552 Hwy 301, Sellers, SC 29592, 843-752-5009
• Federal charges: U.S. District Court, Florence Division, McMillan Federal Building, 401 West Evans Street, Florence, SC 29501, 843-676-3820

Florence County and this county together form the 12th Judicial Circuit (S.C. Code 14-5-610).

The answer turns on how bond was paid:

• Cash. When the case is closed and your person never missed court, whoever paid can ask the court for a refund (S.C. Code 17-15-220).
• Ten percent deposit. This comes back once every bond condition is satisfied. Any restitution the judge orders comes out first (S.C. Code 17-15-15).
• Premium paid to a bondsman. That is a fee, so it never returns.

Skipping court has a steep price. The judge signs a bench warrant, and if the person is not surrendered within 90 days, a surety bond is forfeited (S.C. Code 38-53-70). Failing to appear on purpose is its own crime too. For someone released on a felony, it carries as much as five years and a $5,000 fine. A misdemeanor with a year or more on the line brings up to one year and $1,000 for a willful no-show (S.C. Code 17-15-90).

Refund questions and timing go to the Magistrate's Office at 843-292-5238 or the Clerk of Court at 843-423-8240.

At booking, officers count any cash in a person's pockets and credit it to a jail account, because nobody inside keeps money. Everything else is logged and stored until release day. A few points:

• Belongings nobody claims within 30 days of release are disposed of.
• A friend or relative can collect items once the jailed person names them on a signed Property Release Form.
• Towed car? Ask whichever police agency arrested your person.

How leftover account money is handed back is a question for the Detention Center, 2715 E. Highway 76, Suite D, Mullins, SC 29574, 843-423-0121.

Federal prosecutors take charges from around Mullins and Marion to the federal courthouse in Florence, the McMillan Federal Building, 401 West Evans Street, Florence, SC 29501, 843-676-3820. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

1. Release is up to a federal judge. The detention hearing happens when your person first stands before that judge, though the defense can seek up to five days of delay and prosecutors up to three (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. The U.S. Marshals pick the jail where your person waits for trial. Ask their Florence office, 401 West Evans Street, Suite 341, Florence, SC 29501, 843-662-0750, for the location.
3. After sentencing, the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator shows where the person went.

Paying bond settles the local charge only. An immigration hold is a different matter:

1. The process begins with Form I-247A, a detainer that ICE gives the jail.
2. A federal rule, 8 CFR 287.7(d), lets the jail keep the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released. That gives ICE time to come.
3. South Carolina goes further. Jail staff must check, inside 72 hours, whether someone held on a criminal charge lacks lawful status. They notify the Department of Homeland Security about each such person (S.C. Code 23-3-1100).
4. The bond judge also has to weigh unlawful presence and any flight risk (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).
5. To find someone ICE has moved, try the ICE Online Detainee Locator. Type in the A-number. A full name with the birth country works too.
6. The ICE office covering South Carolina sits at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

Besides people awaiting trial, the Detention Center keeps those sentenced to 90 days or less. By law, terms of three months or less stay in the county. Longer terms move the person to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, and that agency chooses the prison (S.C. Code 24-3-20, 24-3-30).

• Following a General Sessions sentence, transfer paperwork may need up to two business days.
• First comes reception and evaluation for every newcomer to state prison. Visitors can come in person once it ends, or once 30 days pass if it takes longer.
• Try the SCDC inmate search, updated through the last midnight. County jail inmates are left off it.
• The department's headquarters is at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500. To check custody, call SC VINE at 866-727-2846.
• Our South Carolina state prisons page covers visiting and mail prison by prison.

Family Court, not adult bond court, handles nearly all charges against people under 18. Older teens are the exception. At 17, someone charged with a serious felony (Class A to D, or any felony with at least 15 years possible) is tried in adult court (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)).

• The six-hour mark is the limit in an adult jail for a child, and children age ten and younger may not be jailed for any reason (S.C. Code 63-19-820).
• A youth who must stay detained is held at the Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210. Visits are arranged at 803-896-9440.
• A judge has 48 hours, weekends and holidays excluded, to hold a detention hearing. That judge rules on continued detention (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Children aged 14 to 16 who face serious felony charges may be transferred to adult court, but a hearing comes first (S.C. Code 63-19-1210).

Questions about a youth's case go to the local Department of Juvenile Justice office, 1305 North Main St., Marion, SC 29571, 843-431-1110.