Union County Detention Center Inmate Bail & Bonds

In most cases a magistrate does. The county's Magistrate Court runs bond hearings twice daily, and several part-time magistrates serve there as bond court judges. Session times can vary, so phone the Detention Center at 864-429-2818 and ask which session your person will be in.

Under South Carolina law, nobody should wait past 24 hours for that hearing (S.C. Code 22-5-510). After bond is paid, Jonesville Highway staff must free the person in four hours or less. Someone charged by city officers may go before a municipal judge, who also has power over bonds (S.C. Code 14-25-115).

The Magistrate Court works out of the Main Street courthouse, 210 West Main Street, Union, SC 29379, 864-429-1648. Murder and other charges that could mean death or a life term are off limits for a magistrate. A circuit judge takes those, so families should expect a longer wait (S.C. Code 22-5-510(A)).

The law's default for most charges is release on the person's word alone (S.C. Code 17-15-10). From there the judge may stack on money or rules:

• Personal recognizance (PR). A signed pledge to return to court. No cash changes hands.
• Cash. The whole bond amount is paid up front, often at the courthouse. A magistrate or city judge can accept that money in place of the signed pledge (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Surety. A licensed bondsman, paid a fee, takes on the risk of the full bond should the person vanish.
• Ten percent cash. A judge may let the family deposit 10 percent with the clerk of court at Main Street. That choice is closed to violent charges. Neither can a gun felony that arose while an earlier bond was still running (S.C. Code 17-15-15).
• Electronic monitoring. GPS can stand in for a bond or be added to one (S.C. Code 17-15-35).

All bonds carry three baseline promises: show up for court, remain inside South Carolina, and behave (S.C. Code 17-15-20).

Nobody publishes a fixed price list. A judge chooses each figure from the charge, the person's past record, work, local roots and any history of skipped court (S.C. Code 17-15-30). Here is a rough guide by kind of charge:

• Minor offenses for magistrate trial, like simple assault (third-degree assault and battery) or taking $2,000 or less from a store. Release on a pledge is the starting point, though a cash amount can be added.
• Bigger thefts, like shoplifting above $2,000. Expect a money bond sized to the facts and the record.
• Listed violent crimes under state law, second-degree burglary or arson among them. A magistrate can set an amount or deny release (S.C. Code 16-1-60).
• Murder or a possible life sentence. Only a circuit judge can name a bond.
• Domestic violence. Before a cash deposit replaces the pledge, the victim has to be notified.
• Bonded out, then charged again with a violent or gun felony. The law revokes the old bond automatically. Expect a General Sessions hearing on it inside a month (S.C. Code 17-15-55(C)).

For an exact number, call the Detention Center at 864-429-2818 or the Magistrate Court at 864-429-1648.

The jail stands at 1657 Jonesville Highway, Union, SC 29379. Work through this list:

1. Dial 864-429-2818 and spell the full name slowly, with a birth date.
2. Get every charge and its bond. If even one stays unpaid, the person stays put.
3. Ask staff which window takes this bond today (the jail, the Magistrate Court or the Clerk of Court) and what forms of money it accepts.
4. Using a bondsman? Pass along the booking details, and they file with the court.
5. Show a photo ID when you pay, and hold onto the receipt.
6. Ask where to wait. By law, release can take as long as four hours once bond is in (S.C. Code 22-5-510(B)).

For some bonds, yes. Two courthouse offices deal with bond money, both at 210 West Main Street, Union, SC 29379:

• Magistrate Court, 864-429-1648. A cash deposit can be left with a magistrate rather than signing a pledge (S.C. Code 22-5-530).
• Clerk of Court, 864-429-1630, weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. except holidays. A ten percent deposit, if a judge permits that option, goes to this office (S.C. Code 17-15-15).

Phone ahead so the trip isn't wasted. Ask which office has the bond, what it accepts, and whether the jail wants a receipt before release. For a charge filed by city or Jonesville officers, the Magistrate Court can tell you which judge set the bond.

Rules on payment vary by office. Call the one holding the bond. Ask if it takes cash, a bank or cashier's check, a money order or plastic, and whose name goes on a check.

On the county website, the Magistrate Court's page links an online payment page hosted by the South Carolina Judicial Branch. It may be built for fines and tickets only. Check with the court at 864-429-1648 that it can take your bond before using it.

Cash should never go in the mail. Hold every receipt until the case closes.

Bondsmen are licensed by the South Carolina Department of Insurance. Their deal is simple: they back the full bond with the court, and in return keep a premium paid by the family. State law sets these limits (S.C. Code 38-53-170):

• No premium may pass 15 percent of the bond.
• Minimum fee: $100, unless a tenth of the bond is bigger, in which case that tenth.
• Paying over time takes at least $100 down, and the plan can't stretch past 18 months.
• Soliciting in a court building, magistrate office or jail is banned. Agents also may not push you to hire a particular lawyer.
• Falling behind on payments is not, alone, a legal reason for the bondsman to surrender the person (S.C. Code 38-53-50(B)).

Dropped charges don't bring that premium back. Put any collateral deal in writing. Complaints go to the Department of Insurance, 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-737-6160.

Yes. A bond releases a person from one charge only. Watch for these:

• Warrants from elsewhere. A second county, or another state, may also be waiting on Jonesville Highway to hand them over.
• Probation or parole holds. The state's probation office for this county is at 200 South Mountain St., Union, SC 29379, 864-429-1645.
• Circuit-only charges. Release waits until a circuit judge rules.
• A cancelled earlier bond. Jonesville Highway won't honor an old bond for a violent or gun felony once the person is booked on another such charge.
• GPS orders. Ask how the monitor gets put on and how long that takes.
• Federal or ICE holds. Separate answers on this page explain both.

Before you pay, phone 864-429-2818 and have jail staff read off each hold.

Bail, in a reasonable sum, is something nearly every South Carolina defendant can claim (S.C. Const. art. I, § 15). Three groups are different. For capital charges, life-term charges and listed violent crimes, a judge who finds strong proof may order the person held.

The arresting agency owes the judge a file before or at the hearing: criminal history, open cases and any bonds already in place (S.C. Code 22-5-510(E)). Gang database listings and unlawful presence paired with a flight risk also have to be weighed.

Felony prosecution here belongs to the 16th Circuit Solicitor, which covers this county and York. Its local office gets mail at P.O. Box 60, Union, SC 29379, 864-429-1639. The headquarters is at 1675 York Highway, York, SC 29745, 803-628-3020.

The first number is not always the last. When the charge belongs in General Sessions, the defense may ask a circuit judge to review a magistrate's bond (S.C. Code 17-15-55). Conditions can be added or changed after a hearing on proper notice (S.C. Code 17-15-50).

1. Your defense attorney files the motion at the Main Street clerk's office, 864-429-1630.
2. Gather pay stubs, a lease or deed, school papers and proof of anyone the person supports.
3. Suggest safeguards, such as a curfew or GPS, that ease the judge's concerns.
4. Be ready for the Solicitor, and any victim, to weigh in.

Still without a lawyer? Reach the public defender's local office at 864-319-1315.

The court appoints counsel for anyone without the means to hire one (S.C. Code 17-3-10). The application is a sworn statement of income and debts, plus a $40 fee (S.C. Code 17-3-30). If the $40 is more than a person can manage, the clerk may reduce or waive it. Parents or guardians sign for a minor.

• Local office: Public Defender, 101 Sharpe Ave., Union, SC 29379, 864-319-1315, part of the 16th Circuit defender's office shared with York.
• Statewide agency: South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense, 1330 Lady Street, Suite 401, Columbia, SC 29201, 803-734-1343.

Request a lawyer during the bond hearing, or phone the Sharpe Avenue office on the next weekday.

Nearly all state court business happens under one roof, the courthouse at 210 West Main Street, Union, SC 29379. Its main county number is 864-429-1600.

• Magistrate Court handles bond hearings, minor criminal cases, warrants and preliminary hearings: 864-429-1648.
• Clerk of Court keeps files for the Court of General Sessions (felonies and serious misdemeanors) and Family Court: 864-429-1630, weekdays 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Federal charges fall in the Spartanburg Division, with the clerk in Greenville, 864-241-2700, Carroll A. Campbell, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 250 East North Street, Greenville, SC 29601.

A ticket from city or town officers may land before a city judge. Ask the Magistrate Court where those cases are set.

A cash bond can be claimed back after it has done its job, most often at the close of the case (S.C. Code 17-15-220). Ten percent deposits return once the person has kept all the bond terms, though restitution may be taken out first (S.C. Code 17-15-15). Bondsmen keep their premium no matter what.

A no-show at the Main Street courthouse brings a bench warrant, so officers can pick the person up again. If the bondsman hasn't returned the person within 90 days of it, the bond is forfeited (S.C. Code 38-53-70). Skipping court on purpose is a separate crime (S.C. Code 17-15-90):

• Felony case: as much as five years, a $5,000 fine, or both.
• Misdemeanor carrying a year or more: as much as one year, a $1,000 fine, or both.

Ask the office that received your money about a refund: the Clerk of Court at 864-429-1630 or the Magistrate Court at 864-429-1648.

When release comes, ask Jonesville Highway staff about any balance left in the commissary account and the items bagged at booking. The Detention Center, 1657 Jonesville Highway, Union, SC 29379, 864-429-2818, can tell you how the balance is refunded and when to come for property.

If you are picking up for the person, bring a photo ID. Ask staff if the person must first sign a form naming you. See our inmate deposits page for how those balances work.

No. Federal charges skip the local magistrates and go to the Spartanburg Division of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

• Court can be held in Spartanburg at the Donald S. Russell Federal Building, 201 Magnolia Street, Spartanburg, SC 29306. No clerk's office operates there, so questions go to the Greenville clerk at 864-241-2700.
• At the very first federal hearing, the judge takes up release versus detention (18 U.S.C. 3142). If the defense wants time, the delay can reach five days; a government request, three. The person stays locked up meanwhile.
• Until trial, a person charged federally stays in Marshals custody. Greenville office of that agency: 300 East Washington Street, Room 232, Greenville, SC 29601, 864-232-1566.
• After sentencing, check the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate locator.

Yes, it can. An immigration detainer survives a paid bond, and it plays out like this:

1. Federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) send Form I-247A to Jonesville Highway.
2. ICE's form requests that the Union lockup hold them up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released (8 CFR 287.7(d)) so agents can collect them.
3. State law adds a step. Inside 72 hours from booking on a crime, Jonesville Highway staff run a status query on each person held. Jailers must alert Homeland Security about anybody found to lack lawful status (S.C. Code 23-3-1100).
4. Bond judges here must ask two linked questions: is the person in the country unlawfully, and might they run (S.C. Code 22-5-510(D)(4))?
5. ICE's South Carolina office: 3950 Faber Place Drive, North Charleston, SC 29405, 843-746-9800.
6. Look the person up on the ICE Online Detainee Locator using their name and birth country.

A sentence no longer than three months usually stays on Jonesville Highway (S.C. Code 24-3-30). Anything longer hands custody to the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC), which decides the location (S.C. Code 24-3-20). By agreement, SCDC can keep some state inmates in a county facility, like the Prison Work Camp on Jonesville Highway, which holds up to 20 state inmate workers.

• The first SCDC stop is reception and evaluation, where staff sort new prisoners. In-person visiting waits until that's done; past day 30, it may open.
• For location, open the SCDC inmate search, updated each midnight.
• SCDC headquarters: 4444 Broad River Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-8500.
• Our South Carolina state prisons listings describe each lockup.

Family Court treats most people under 18 as children. Seventeen-year-olds facing Class A, B, C or D felonies, or felonies worth 15 years and up, are treated as adults (S.C. Code 63-19-20(1)). The adult lockup may keep a juvenile six hours at most. Children ten and younger never go behind bars (S.C. Code 63-19-820).

• Within 48 hours a Family Court judge decides if the child stays held; weekends and holidays don't count toward that (S.C. Code 63-19-830).
• Most detained youth are sent to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Juvenile Detention Complex, 1725 Shivers Road, Columbia, SC 29210, 803-896-9440.
• The DJJ county office, 200 South Mountain St., Suite 3, Union, SC 29379, 864-429-1640, is the place to ask about the child's location and next court date.