The lookup covers the one jail on Winkles Road. To use it:

1. Pull up the jail's inmate lookup in any web browser.
2. Find the list of people in custody and type in the last name.
3. When several people share the name, match the first name and age.
4. Open the entry to see the bail amount and the other details the jail shares.
5. Write down the booking number if one appears. It helps when you call the jail.

Only people inside today appear. For anything else, phone the Detention Center, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, at 803-436-2340.

When the search comes back empty, the reason is often one of these:

• Still in booking. A name posts only after fingerprints, photos and paperwork are done.
• Release already happened. Once bond is made, the entry comes off the list.
• A transfer. A move to a prison, a jail elsewhere or federal custody takes the name off.
• A typo. Retry with a different spelling, any former last name, or the nickname they go by.
• Age. Under-18s are held by the state's juvenile system, not at Winkles Road.

Staff at the Detention Center, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, can answer at 803-436-2340. The office side keeps weekday hours, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This county runs a single adult jail on Winkles Road: 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, 803-436-2340. Its population mixes people awaiting trial with people serving shorter sentences. State and federal prisoners stay there too, along with people waiting to go to another place.

When the arrest took place close to a neighboring county, try these jails as well:

• Florence County Detention Center, 6719 Friendfield Rd., Effingham, SC 29541, 843-665-9944
• Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center (Richland County), 201 John Mark Dial Drive, Columbia, SC 29209, 803-576-3200

For someone already sentenced to state prison, use the state inmate search.

The Sheriff's Office describes its lookup as a list of current inmates and their bail. For release of a photo, contact the Sheriff's Office, 1281 North Main Street, Sumter, SC 29153, 803-436-2000.

• Names of people jailed within the last three months are public records in this state (S.C. Code 30-4-30(D)(3)).
• Some websites post booking photos. If the case ended in dismissal, acquittal or expungement, a site must take the photo down for free (S.C. Code 17-1-60). Ask by certified mail, and the site has 30 days.
• The U.S. Marshals rarely release photos of their prisoners, except now and then for a wanted fugitive.
• To ask ICE for a photo it took, use ICE's FOIA portal.

VINELink South Carolina is free. It tracks a person's custody status and location, and it will contact you when either one changes. Its phone line is 866-727-2846, with English and Spanish options.

1. Open VINELink and search by name or by offender number.
2. Choose the matching person.
3. Register a phone number or email address for notices.

For people in state prison, the Department of Corrections' victim services office also mails release notices to those who sign up on its paper form. Reach it at 803-896-1733. Its headquarters is 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210.

A magistrate holds bond hearings inside the jail at 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153. Sessions are set for 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays, with morning sessions on weekends and holidays as needed. State law requires the hearing within 24 hours of arrest (S.C. Code 22-5-510).

• Bond is the norm. On noncapital charges, the law begins with release on a signed promise (S.C. Code 17-15-10).
• The judge may instead order cash, a bondsman's surety bond, or a deposit of ten percent with the clerk.
• Murder and other charges that could mean life in prison wait for a circuit judge.
• After bond is paid, release must follow within four hours.

Read our bail page for payment steps, bondsman fees and refunds. To confirm hearing times, call 803-436-2340.

Phone the Detention Center at 803-436-2340, give the name and birth date, and ask staff to list the charges. The magistrate also reads them aloud at the bond hearing.

After a case is filed, the state's Public Index lists each charge and where it stands. For felony cases, the Clerk of Court's criminal line is 803-436-2232, at the Judicial Center, 215 N. Harvin St., Sumter, SC 29150.

South Carolina makes crime reports public (S.C. Code 30-4-50(A)(8)). Ask the arresting agency for one. Agencies must reply to a records request within ten working days (S.C. Code 30-4-30(C)).

Yes. South Carolina provides a lawyer to people who cannot afford one (S.C. Code 17-3-10). The person completes a sworn financial affidavit. There is a $40 application fee, which the clerk may cut or drop for someone who can't pay it (S.C. Code 17-3-30).

Cases from this county go to the Third Circuit Public Defender, Judicial Center, 215 North Harvin Street, Room 151, Sumter, SC 29150, 803-436-2424, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Relatives can begin the paperwork through the county's web form, the Application for Counsel.

Once a lawyer is named, save case details for that lawyer rather than sharing them with others.

All in-person social visits at the Detention Center, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, are through glass, with no contact. They run first come, first served on weekdays, and the day depends on the pod:

• Monday and Wednesday: Delta pod 8:30 to 11 a.m., Alpha pod 8:30 to 10:30 a.m., and Echo, Juliet and Kilo pods 1 to 4 p.m.
• Tuesday and Thursday: Charlie pod 8:30 to 11 a.m., and Bravo and November pods 1 to 4 p.m.

Sign in 15 minutes before the session starts. Adults need a photo ID. At most two visitors come at once, and they may be one adult and one young person 12 or older. Bring a child's birth certificate. Dress modestly. Sleeveless, strapless, see-through and low-cut tops are refused, as are shorts or skirts more than 3 inches above the knee. Shoes are required. Leave phones, keys and bags in the car.

Video visits are set up through an account with the jail's phone company. The jail's pages differ on how many visits each person gets, so call the front office at 803-436-2353 before you go. Our visitation guide explains video visits in more depth.

Money reaches an account at this jail in one of three ways:

• Lobby kiosk at 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cash works, and so do debit and credit cards for a $4 fee. It will not take $1 bills, and it gives no change.
• By phone through the jail's deposit service at 866-394-0490.
• Online through that same deposit service's website.

Account balances are private. Only the person in jail can choose to share theirs. Account money is often spent at the jail store, and our commissary page explains how that usually works. Our money guide covers fees and refunds. Questions go to the front office at 803-436-2353.

At booking, a person can ask for a personal call. After that, calls are made from the phones in each housing unit. Family members open a prepaid phone account with the jail's phone company at 800-844-6591. The same company runs the video visit system.

Keep talk about the case for the defense attorney. Ask the jail, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, 803-436-2340, whether it offers messaging or tablets.

How these services usually work is laid out on our jail calls page and our inmate email page.

Put the full booked name on the first line, with the housing unit location number after it, like this:

John Doe (Housing Unit Location Number)
Sumter County Sheriff's Office Detention Center
1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153

• The envelope needs your name and a return address.
• Staff check each incoming envelope for contraband.
• Contraband gets the letter held and may bring discipline or criminal charges.
• Never send cash in a letter.

To ask about books, photos or legal mail, call 803-436-2340. Our inmate mail page has general tips.

Items a person had at arrest are stored at the Detention Center, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153. Someone else can pick up personal or valuable property only if the person in jail signs to allow it. Pickup is Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Bring a photo ID. Call 803-436-2340 before the drive to confirm the signed release is on file and the bag is waiting.

Under S.C. Code 24-5-80, counties must meet jail inmates' basic needs, medical care included. For a health worry, phone the control room at the Detention Center, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153, 803-436-2340. Be ready to give the medication, its dosage and the prescribing doctor's name.

When a relative of the inmate dies, call that line and ask for the shift supervisor. Staff will arrange for the chaplain to meet with the person.

Every jail in the state gets an inspection from the Department of Corrections at least once a year (S.C. Code 24-9-10).

The Sheriff's Civil Process (Warrants) Division, 1281 North Main Street, Sumter, SC 29153, 803-436-2020, serves warrants in the city and county, and city officers serve them too. Ask that office, or look for open court cases on the Public Index. Wanted people may be posted to the Marshals Service's 15 Most Wanted, the Most Wanted Offenders list from state probation and the county's Most Wanted page. With a lawyer's guidance, the person can surrender to the issuing court or ask it to reset the date. For a General Sessions warrant, contact the Clerk of Court, 215 N. Harvin St., Sumter, SC 29150, 803-436-2227.

Magistrate dates come from Summary Court, 190 E. Canal St., Sumter, SC 29150, 803-436-2280. City cases go through Municipal Court, 190 E. Canal Street, Sumter, SC 29150, 803-436-2290. For felonies, the Solicitor's Office sets the General Sessions calendar at the Judicial Center, 215 N. Harvin St., Sumter, SC 29150, 803-436-2185.

The daily court rosters list cases set for each session. Our court page follows a case from the bond hearing to the verdict.

Federal charges brought in this county are tried in Columbia, at the U.S. District Court, 901 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-5816. At the person's first federal court appearance, the judge decides whether they stay in custody (18 U.S.C. 3142).

Before trial, deputy U.S. Marshals answer for the person's custody. Their Columbia office is at 901 Richland Street, Suite 1300, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-765-5821. Since the local jail accepts federal prisoners, the person may stay on Winkles Road.

After sentencing, search the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator by name or register number.

On Form I-247A, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) may lodge a detainer that asks the jail to keep a person up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)). ICE then has that window to collect them and move them to a holding site.

1. Gather their full name, birth date and country of birth.
2. Search the ICE Online Detainee Locator. An A-number works too.
3. If nothing comes up, call ICE in North Charleston at 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.

State law adds its own steps (S.C. Code 23-3-1100). Jails have 72 hours to check the status of a person booked on a criminal charge. Anyone found unlawfully present is reported to the Department of Homeland Security. Unlawful presence and flight risk also count at bond (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4)).

Sentences over three months go to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (S.C. Code 24-3-20). Newcomers spend their first weeks in reception and evaluation, with no in-person visits unless that stretch passes 30 days. A prison assignment comes next.

• Search the state's incarcerated inmate search. Results are current as of midnight the day before, and county jail inmates are left out.
• Call the SC VINE line at 866-727-2846 to confirm custody or set up alerts.
• The agency's headquarters is at 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Browse our guide to South Carolina state prisons for each facility.

No child may stay in an adult jail past six hours, and no child ten or younger may be jailed at all (S.C. Code 63-19-820). Most youth who are detained go to the state's Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440. Its JDC Annex used to be the Midlands Evaluation Center.

• A Family Court judge reviews any detention at a hearing. The 48-hour limit for it excludes weekends and holidays (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• The local juvenile justice office can tell parents where a youth is: 20 Magnolia St., Sumter, SC 29150, 803-778-2368.
• Family Court records are with the Clerk of Court at 215 N. Harvin St., Sumter, SC 29150, 803-436-2366.

Each agency below books its adult arrests into the Detention Center, 1250 Winkles Road, Sumter, SC 29153:

• Sumter County Sheriff's Office (rural areas and towns without their own officers): 1281 North Main Street, Sumter, SC 29153. Non-emergency line 803-436-2774; front desk 803-436-2000.
• Sumter Police Department (inside city limits): 335 N. Lafayette Drive, Sumter, SC 29150, 803-436-2700.
• Mayesville: the town sends police calls to the Sheriff's non-emergency line.
• Pinewood Police Department: for help with a Pinewood arrest, call the Sheriff's non-emergency line.
• South Carolina Highway Patrol, Troop 1 (state highways and crashes): 1626 Shop Road, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-8340.

When a campus officer or a state agent made the arrest, the jail at 803-436-2340 can say which agency booked the person. Save 911 for emergencies.