The county's search is called the Public Web Jail Viewer, and it covers people detained right now. Step by step:

1. Pull up the jail viewer on any phone or computer.
2. Key in the whole last name. A partial name returns nothing useful.
3. Narrow a long list by adding the first name.
4. Know the arrest date? Put a range in Booking From and Booking To.
5. Read the bond code: PR for personal recognizance, CB for cash bond, SB for surety bond, BD for bond denied.
6. Save the detainee number, since deposits, letters and staff calls move faster when you have it.

Expect long lists for common surnames. A March 2026 county report counted 1,011 adults held there, a few more than its 1,008 beds.

Common reasons a search comes back empty:

• Booking isn't finished. Fresh arrests take time to reach the viewer.
• Released already. They may have made bond at Bond Court.
• Spelling. The viewer needs the exact, complete last name. Try the maiden name, a hyphenated version or other spellings.
• Another county's jail. Arrests on the Lexington County side of Cayce, Irmo or the capital may be booked there.
• A minor. People under 18 go into the state juvenile system.

Jail staff at 803-576-3200 can settle it fastest. The office keeps hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

The county operates one adult jail: the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209, 803-576-3200. It houses people awaiting trial and people serving sentences, split into minimum, medium and maximum security areas. A March 2026 report to County Council put its beds at 896 for men and 112 for women.

Near the county line, check these neighboring jails too:

• Lexington County Detention Center, at the Law Enforcement Complex, 521 Gibson Road, Lexington, SC 29072, 803-785-2743. Try it for arrests on the Lexington side of Cayce, Irmo or the capital.
• Kershaw County Detention Center, Camden, 803-425-1516
• Fairfield County Detention Center, 10 Faith Lane, Winnsboro, SC 29180, 803-635-4841, alternative number 803-635-2013
• Newberry County Detention Center, 3239 Louis Rich Drive, Newberry, SC 29108, 803-321-2141
• Sumter County Detention Center, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, 803-436-2340
• Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center, the jail for Calhoun County arrests, 803-539-2091

Photos are handed out on request. The jail viewer itself says so, so phone 803-576-3200 and ask how to put in a request. Jail rosters in South Carolina are public records (S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3)).

• Has a website posted a mugshot after the charge was dropped, expunged or ended in acquittal? Send a certified letter with proof. The site must then remove it within 30 days and can't charge for it (S.C. Code 17-1-60).
• To get a booking photo ICE made, file on its ICE records request page.
• Photos from other federal bookings usually stay private, though Marshals deputies may share one while hunting a fugitive.

For a detainee at Alvin S. Glenn, check the jail viewer daily or call 803-576-3200. A released person disappears from the viewer.

• VINE is a free statewide service. It reports custody status and location. Any change triggers an alert by text, email or phone call. Register on VINELink South Carolina or by phone at 866-727-2846, in English or Spanish.
• Victims who request it get notice of the accused's release. The jail's victim advocate takes calls at 803-576-3289.

A magistrate decides bond at the jail's own Bond Court, 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209, 803-576-3281. The law requires that hearing within 24 hours of arrest, and four rounds are held daily. Once bond is delivered, release has to follow within four hours (S.C. Code 22-5-510).

• The usual outcomes are personal recognizance, a cash bond, or a bondsman's surety bond.
• Payment at the Bond Court window is limited to cash, money orders and cashier's checks.
• Where death or a life sentence is possible, bond waits for a circuit judge.

Amounts, bondsmen, refunds and holds are explained on our bond page.

Jail staff at 803-576-3200 can read off each charge and its bond. After the court files the case, search the Richland Public Index by name or case number.

In General Sessions, the Fifth Circuit Solicitor makes the final charging call. That office is at 1701 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-576-1800. The Clerk of Court's Criminal Records desk, 803-576-1939, answers record questions too.

A detainee unable to pay for a lawyer may request one from the Public Defender's Office, 1701 Main Street, Suite 103, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-2592. The process means a signed affidavit about finances and a $40 application fee the clerk can reduce or waive (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

Defense attorneys see clients in private rooms at the jail, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. They schedule through the Attorney Visit Planner at 803-576-3396 or ASGDCAdmin@richlandcountysc.gov.

In-person visits run 8:15 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Every detainee is allowed one visit per week, and it lasts an hour. Before you go:

• Register through the online visitation portal the county links from its Detention Center page.
• Two visitors at most may sit in at once, kids included.
• Show a photo ID, and dress by the jail's dress code.
• Meals, shift changes and lockdowns pause visits. Get there early, and phone 803-576-3200 beforehand to confirm visits are running.

Our visitation guide adds tips, such as how video visits generally work.

Account money buys commissary, which is ordered once each week. A deposit has to land by noon on Wednesday to count toward that week's order. Pick one of three routes:

• Lobby. Every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., leave a U.S. Postal money order or use the kiosk, which accepts cash and debit or credit cards. The front counter won't take payments, and personal checks are refused.
• Online. The county's Detention Center page links a deposit service.
• Mail. Mail a U.S. Postal money order showing the detainee's full name, birth date and detainee number to the jail.

Call Inmate Accounts at 803-576-3217 with questions. Our inmate money guide and commissary page cover more. Cash in an envelope is never safe.

Phone service is set up by the jail. Call 803-576-3200 during office hours to find out how to open a calling account, what each call costs, and whether tablets or messages exist there. Find out as well if calls get recorded. Keep case details off the jail phone and share them with the lawyer instead.

Background on how jail calls usually work is in our phone guide. Messaging is covered on our email and text page.

Write the detainee's name, detainee number and housing unit, then c/o Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209. The jail rejects mail holding any of these:

• Cash, personal checks or cashier's checks (U.S. Postal money orders are the only accepted form)
• Stamps, blank envelopes, stationery, notebooks or loose paper
• Stickers, glue, magnets or anything laminated
• Credit or debit cards, clothing, shoes, boxes or oversized greeting cards
• Photos over 5x7, Polaroids, and pictures with gang signs, drugs, alcohol, money or nudity

Right now the jail has paused all books, magazines and other publications until further notice. In normal times they had to ship straight from a publisher or bookstore, and hardcovers were banned. Our jail mail guide explains more.

Items a detainee had at booking are stored by the jail. To arrange a pickup, phone 803-576-3200 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and ask whether the detainee needs to sign a release first. Bring photo ID to 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209.

Leftover account money is handled by Inmate Accounts, 803-576-3217.

State law makes the county give jail inmates access to medical care (S.C. Code 24-5-80). When your family member needs a medicine or treatment, call the jail's nursing staff at 803-576-3222. Have the drug's name and dose ready, plus the doctor's number.

For a mental health concern, the jail's mental health staff take calls at 803-576-3223. Describe what you've noticed. In an emergency on the outside, call 911.

Sheriff's deputies carry out county warrants, 803-576-3000. City arrest and bench warrants run through the police Warrant Division, 803-545-3166. Wanted lists worth checking: the U.S. Marshals' top-15 fugitive page, city police's Midland's Most Wanted, and the state Most Wanted Offenders page. For a county warrant, the Clerk of Court's Criminal Records desk can look up a name by phone, 803-576-1939. Before handling one, get legal advice; a lawyer can arrange a surrender at the jail, 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209, or call the court that issued it. The clerk is located at 1701 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201.

Each court sets its own calendar. Use these to find the date:

• Richland Public Index for General Sessions, by name or case number
• Summary court dockets for magistrate and city court hearings
• Clerk of Court, 1701 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-576-1950, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays
• Columbia Municipal Court, 811 Washington Street, Columbia, SC 29201, criminal and traffic line 803-545-3127

Our criminal court guide follows a case from bond hearing to sentence.

Federal cases from the Midlands are filed at 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201 (Matthew J. Perry, Jr. U.S. Courthouse), 803-765-5816.

1. The first hearing in federal court includes a detention hearing, which settles custody or release until trial (18 U.S.C. 3142).
2. Before trial, Marshals deputies keep the defendant, in a jail the Marshals pick. Phone the Marshals at 803-765-5821 to learn where. Their office: 901 Richland Street, Suite 1300, Columbia, SC 29201.
3. After sentencing, look them up in the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator using a name or BOP register number.

When federal immigration agents want a detainee, events tend to unfold in this order:

1. Step one is paperwork. Immigration agents send Form I-247A, their detainer, to Alvin S. Glenn staff.
2. Under the detainer, jail staff may hold the person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)).
3. State law adds its own step. Anyone booked on a criminal charge gets an immigration status check within 72 hours. A finding of unlawful presence is passed on to the Department of Homeland Security (S.C. Code 23-3-1100).
4. Agents take custody. ICE's South Carolina office is at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
5. Open the ICE Online Detainee Locator and type in the A-number. If you lack one, the name and birth country also work. Still nothing? Call that ICE office.

Sentences longer than three months go to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC). New arrivals pass through reception and evaluation before SCDC assigns a prison.

• The SCDC inmate search shows people in state custody as of the prior midnight.
• Call SC VINE at 866-727-2846 for custody alerts, or SCDC headquarters at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Our South Carolina state prisons guide gives each prison's visiting and mail rules.

The state probation and parole office for the county is at 300 Columbia Mall Blvd, Suite 110, Columbia, SC 29223, 803-734-6320.

Minors don't stay at Alvin S. Glenn. A County Council committee voted in 2024 to close the jail's youth unit, and the state Department of Juvenile Justice now houses young people from this county at its Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440 for visits. A judge must review the detention within 48 hours, a count that skips weekends and holidays (S.C. Code 63-19-830). For location and court dates, call the local DJJ office, 300 Columbia Mall Blvd., Suite 200, Columbia, SC 29223, 803-253-4050.

Booking records name the arresting agency, so jail staff can say which one it was. Agencies that patrol in the county:

• Richland County Sheriff's Department, 5623 Two Notch Road, Columbia, SC 29223, 803-576-3000. Deputies cover the areas outside city limits and enforce state law in Arcadia Lakes. Blythewood has no town police force; deputies there work from the Region 6 substation, 118 McNulty St., Suite B, Blythewood, SC 29016, 803-576-3004. For an Eastover arrest, call the Sheriff's main number above to learn which agency made it.
• Columbia Police Department, 1 Justice Square, Columbia, SC 29201, non-emergency 803-252-2911. Alternative number for general questions: 803-545-3500.
• Forest Acres Police Department, 5205 North Trenholm Road, Forest Acres, SC 29206, 803-782-9444
• Irmo Police Department, 1230 Columbia Avenue, Irmo, SC 29063, 803-781-8088
• Cayce Department of Public Safety, 803-794-0456
• University of South Carolina Law Enforcement and Safety, 1415 Henderson Street, Columbia, SC 29208, 803-777-4215
• Benedict College Campus Police, 1600 Harden Street, Columbia, SC 29204, 803-253-5400
• Midlands Technical College Police, non-emergency 803-738-7850
• South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 1, 1626 Shop Road, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-8340