Free Charleston County Public Records Search: Criminal, Court, Marriage, Divorce & More

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Free Charleston County Public Records Search

Access Charleston County Records: marriage, divorce, warrants, arrests, probation, criminal, court, background checks, and all public records.

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Run a Charleston County public records search and find information on anyone through official databases.

Once you know what to look for and where to look, records such as criminal and arrest records (including warrants, probation, mugshots), sex offender details, background check reports, property records, vital records (marriage, divorce, birth and death) and court records are readily accessible.

The following guide provides everything to search these records, which are made available through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and South Carolina’s state Freedom of Information Act.^1,2

Written or authored by Attorney Robert Bailey Jr, who possesses a Juris Doctorate in Law from Widener University School of Law and is a Licensed Attorney.

How To Search for Arrest Records in Charleston County (Including Mugshots & Reason for Detainment)

When people search for Charleston county arrest records they may be looking for a variety of things. For some, they are looking for a police report, while others want to search a jail roster for someone that was recently arrested.

Arrest records have a different custodian than public criminal records. If you want to find a recent arrest report you have to know the appropriate custodian which is typically a law enforcement agency. They are not generally held by courts who are the primary custodian for criminal records.

In this case the arrest records custodian is the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

When searching for public records in Charleston County that involve daily arrests and specific arrest records, citizens have multiple options. To determine where you should start your search, figure out either which law enforcement agency arrested the person you are looking for or where they are incarcerated. If you do not know, you may have to perform a few searches.

Here are your options along with what steps you need to take and what you can view with their arrest records.

Find Arrest Records Using the Charleston County Sheriff’s Inmate Search Tool

One way to get free arrest history is by using the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office inmate search tool.³ Their tool allows you to search by name (including a function to set a booking date range) or inmate number.

You can also filter your results to show current Charleston county bookings or you can include past bookings as well. You can find someone’s mugshot once you select an individual from your search results along with the below arrest record information:

• Name
• DOB
• Booking date and time
• Booking status
• Inmate number
• Race
• Gender
• Release date and time
• Early release date (if applicable)
• Age
• Weight
• Height
• Confinement Reason

The search tool also provides detailed information on charge details. Charge details include:

• the arresting agency
• charge number
• warrant number
• bond amount
• charge status (e.g., bond posted)
• charge description
• court
• court date

One unique feature to Charleston County’s Sheriff’s Office inmate search tool is the ability to click on the warrant number to get specific warrant information. We will discuss this in greater detail later in this article when we discuss performing warrant searches.

If you have further questions about conducting a search with the county sheriff’s office you can contact their Records Division at 843-554-2450. You can also go in person at:

Charleston County Sheriff’s Office
Records Division
3505 Pinehaven Drive
Charleston South Carolina 29405

Track Down Arrest Records in Major Cities Within Charleston County

Charleston County is one of the largest counties in South Carolina and as a result, many of Charleston county’s larger cities have their own police department. However, individuals trying to find out if someone is in jail might benefit from knowing that Charleston county does not have city jails.

Since jail records are nonexistent due to the absence of a municipal correctional facilities, if you want to look for arrest records in a particular city and cannot find what you’re looking for with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, you can try reaching out to the city police department.

While the larger cities do not have their own inmate search tool you can contact them to request arrest records information.

Here is the contact information for the police departments at the five largest cities in Charleston County.

Police Department	Address	Phone Number
Charleston Police Department	180 Lockwood Blvd. Charleston South Carolina 29403	843-577-7434
North Charleston Police Department	2500 City Hall Lane North Charleston South Carolina 29418	843-740-2812
Mount Pleasant Police Department	100 Ann Edwards Lane Mount Pleasant South Carolina 29464	843-743-7200
Summerville Police Department	300 West 2nd North Street Summerville South Carolina 29483	843-871-2463
Goose Creek Police Department	519 N. Goose Creek Boulevard Goose Creek South Carolina 29445	843-572-4300

When you call them, tell them you are searching for an arrest report and you identified them as the arresting agency. Be prepared with whatever relevant information you may have to assist in the search.

If they can provide arrest records directly from their agency they should provide you details about how that process works. Or they may inform you that the arrest reports are being managed by another custodian such as the CCSO.

Charleston County custodians will not be able to provide information on arrests that occurred within surrounding counties. However, our South Carolina public information search resource offers streamlined methods of accessing all public records throughout the state along with contact details for the custodians who host them. Simplified instructions for looking up criminal history reports, court records, warrants, probation information, and more can be found there.

How To Find Marriage & Divorce Details in Charleston County

The Probate Court has a search tool for finding Charleston County marriage records within the county. The marriage records search tool and family court search feature allows you to search by either the bride or groom’s name and allows you to include surrounding counties in case you need to expand your search.⁴

The Charleston county public records information for marriage records includes:

• Marriage license number
• Case name
• Application date
• Marriage date
• County

Parties hoping to check if someone is married can also view the following information:

• Name
• Address
• Birthplace
• Race
• Age

The marriage search does not allow you to view or request the actual marriage license. However, the probate court’s marriage license division allows you to request a certified copy of a marriage license online.⁵

The cost is $5.00 per certified copy. If you need additional information you can contact the probate court at 843-958-5183. Or you can visit them in person at the following address.

Charleston County Probate Court
100 Broad Street, #469
Charleston South Carolina 29401 

Their office is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

Note: For any marriage licenses issued prior to 1999 you will have to request a copy through the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).⁶

If you want to search Charleston County divorce records you will have to conduct a search on Charleston County’s Public Index.⁷ This court search tool is for a variety of Charleston county court records. Follow these steps to find a divorce record in Charleston County.

1. Navigate to the county public records search tool.
2. Insert any applicable information such as court type, case number, name etc.
3. For the case type select “Judgment.”
4. For the Case sub type you will select “divorce.”
5. Click “search” to see what records are available.

Here you can search for divorce cases and get information related to the case such as the disposition and other court related information.

You can also request Charleston county divorce records from the DHEC or South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control for any divorces between July 1962 and December 2022.⁸

To find out if someone is married, requests can be made online through VitalChek or by calling them at 877-284-1008.⁹ You can also make a request by phone, In-person, mail or drop-off. For more information visit the DHEC’s Divorce Reports page.

How To Access Databases Containing Charleston County Criminal Records

While arrest records are useful, Charleston county criminal records may provide a more complete picture. Not only do they show the arrest information, but they also provide information such as what charges the person was convicted of, how long they are sentenced and if the case was dropped or dismissed.

Review Charleston County’s Public Index & Court Documents for Criminal Charges

You can perform a Charleston County case search through the same online public index where you can find public divorce records (as discussed earlier) and so much more. This search tool serves as a public records repository for many Charleston County judicial records.

Since this search tool is so broad it is helpful to understand Charleston County courts to assist you in conducting your search. Preliminary hearings for criminal matters are held at Magistrate/Summary Courts. The Circuit Court’s General Sessions Court is responsible for handling criminal cases through final disposition.

To search using the above index, users can take the following steps:

• For court type you have two options. You can select “Summary Court” or “Circuit Court” depending on what records you are looking for in particular.
• If you are searching at the Summary Court level you can choose a specific magistrate you would like to search in the “court agency” drop down menu. If you are searching at the Circuit Court level make sure for Court agency you select “General Sessions.” Otherwise it will provide search results for civil cases as well.
• Enter specific search information – this can include (1) a case number, (2) case type, (3) name and more.

Once you select your parameters and perform a search you will find the following general information:

• Case number
• Case type
• Arrest date
• Filed date
• Court
• Status
• Assigned judge
• Disposition and date of disposition
• Indictment number

Below this general information there are several tabs containing additional information.

Here is some additional information you can view:

• Case Parties – this includes the names, address, race, sex, and year of birth of various involved parties. This is not just the Defendant but can also be an officer, bond entity, etc.
• Charges – here you can see the charge description, charge code and disposition date.
• Sentencing – description, amount (e.g. fine, restitution), beginning/end date, completion date and whether the sentence is consecutive or concurrent.
• Associated Cases – here you can view all related cases along with the agency, case number, relationship to original case, description and other case information.
• Actions – This includes a description with dates and time for all hearings and related actions.
• Financials – Fines/costs (including amount paid). The financials section also provides an itemized list of all the costs related to this case and the dates of any payments made.
• Bonds – here you can get general bond information such as the amount and type of bond as well as the date it was set. In addition, you can find information on if a bond was posted, the amount and the party/entity that posted the bond.

Utilize the Charleston County CourtPlus Case Search Portal to Find Criminal Proceedings

Charleston county has a second search tool called CourtPlus.¹⁰ For criminal cases you can search the Circuit Court’s General Sessions Court. This search tool allows you to search by party name, case number, file date and more.

If you would like, you can narrow your search to either active or inactive cases.

Remember when using this search tool to select “General Sessions” as your case type to see if someone has a criminal record. Most of the information provided with this search tool is similar to Charleston County’s public online directory. One unique aspect is that the parties section includes phone numbers to contact certain associated parties such as the attorneys of record for the case and the bond company.

If you have sparse details to perform your search or you are running into other issues, it may be beneficial to call or go to the courthouse in person. The Charleston County Circuit Court’s General Sessions Court is located at:

Charleston County Circuit Court
General Sessions Court
100 Broad Street
Charleston South Carolina 29401

Their Clerk of Court could be a helpful resource if you are stuck on how to conduct a criminal records search. The Clerk of Court’s office is located in Suite 106 and you can call them at 843-958-5000.¹¹ They are open Monday – Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

If you are looking for information from a Magistrate/Summary Court try contacting their administrative office at:

Magistrate/Summary Court
Administrative Office
4045 Bridge View Drive, Suite B143
North Charleston South Carolina 29405

You can also call them at 843-202-6600. You can also visit one of their specific Magistrate/Summary Court locations.¹²

Use South Carolina State Resources To Find Prior Crimes & Offenses

When performing a free criminal record check, you may finish searching throughout all Charleston county and realize you have to expand your search to other parts of South Carolina. It may be that the criminal record is being held by a different county.

The record you are searching for may also be held by a state agency. If that is the case you may have to search through all South Carolina public records. Here are some options if you want to look up someone’s criminal record in South Carolina.

• South Carolina Judicial Branch Case Records Search – here you can search cases specific to Charleston county as well as throughout the entire state of South Carolina.¹³
• South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC) – here you can search for the criminal records of anyone incarcerated in South Carolina.¹⁴
• The SC sex Offender Registry – search tool for convicted sex offenders in South Carolina.¹⁵
• National Sex Offender Registry – search tool for convicted sex offenders throughout the United States.¹⁶
• Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) – here you can search for federal inmates.¹⁷

Another useful resource for statewide criminal records and public record searches is our South Carolina Records Page.

How To Conduct a Background Check in Charleston County South Carolina

Now that you know there are several ways to get police records and criminal information on people, you may be wondering why a recent employer or landlord asked for your consent to conduct a background check. The reason is because there are two types of background checks, personal and professional, and the rules that govern them are different.

Below is a list of the primary differences between personal and professional background checks:

Topic	Personal Background Checks	Professional Background Checks
Scope	Can be used for any lawful reason.	Review of an individual’s background for business purposes (e.g., prospective employee, tenant screening, work with minors etc.)
Consent	Consent is not required.	Consent must be received from the person you are requesting a background check in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act18
Protections	Cannot be used to commit a crime.	Must not use the information to violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which is enforced by the Equal Equal Employment Opportunity Commision.19,20
How to get one	You can perform a personal background check using the Charleston County public records and resources outlined in this article.	Usually requested formally through a local, state or federal agency. Also can use paid third party background check services.

The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office Records Section provides criminal histories and background checks.²¹ To request a background check you must fill out a Criminal Records Check Form and pay $5.00.²² You can mail or make your request in person at their office located at:

Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO)
Records Section
3691 Leeds Avenue
North Charleston South Carolina 29405 

They are open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM (closed from 12-1 PM). You can also contact their Records division by phone at 843-554-2469 and by email at [email protected].

Note: there are some limitations on these background checks. First, they are only valid for 90 days. Second, they only contain criminal records for arrests made by the CCSO. For a statewide South Carolina background check contact the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).²³

How To Perform a Charleston County Warrant Search

If someone has a warrant you can find it using the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office warrant search tool.²⁴ The search tool allows you to search for individuals by name. Search results will provide you with these details:

• Name
• Warrant number
• Issue date
• Type
• Description (the reason the warrant was issued)

For additional warrant info from the CCSO, contact the Charleston County Warrants Unit at 843-740-3107.

The major cities in Charleston county have police departments but they do not provide their own separate process for publicly searching warrants. You can try contacting them using the contact information provided earlier in this article if you want to ask them if they provide any type of warrant information and, if so, how to obtain that information.

South Carolina does not provide a statewide resource for viewing warrants either. However, SLED does provide a nationally and locally wanted persons list .²⁵

How To View Someone’s Probation Status Using Charleston County Public Records

Charleston county does not run its own independent search tool for inmates on probation. However, the South Carolina Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services does provide a probation search option and you can search specifically for people on probation in Charleston County.²⁶

To check for someone on probation first make sure that for the county you select Charleston. From there you can enter whatever search information you have. The probation search tool allows you to enter the following:

• First name
• Last name
• State ID number
• Year they were born.

The search tool will provide you with the following information for someone on probation in Charleston County:

• State Identification Number
• South Carolina Department of Corrections ID
• Name
• Age
• Year of Birth
• Gender
• Race
• Main Offense
• Supervision Type
• Supervision Begin and End date
• Indication as to whether or not the person is also on the sex offender registry
• Number of Revocations

For additional information you can contact them at 803-734-9220. You can also specifically contact the Charleston County location at 843-740-1553 or in person at:

South Carolina Department of Probation
Charleston County
4050 Bridge View Drive, Suite 100
North Charleston South Carolina 29405

How To Look Up Court Record of All Types in Charleston County

When individuals need to search Charleston county public records involving court matters, their two primary options are:

1.  Charleston County Public Index – you can search cases in the (1) Circuit Court, (2) Magistrate/Summary Court and (3) the Masters-In-Equity Court. For Magistrate/Summary courts you can narrow your search to a specific court location.
2. CourtPlus – here you can search cases in the following courts: (1) Common Pleas, (2) General Sessions and (3) Family Court.

Some cities have their own search tool as well. For instance, the North Charleston Municipal Court System has a search tool to perform a ticket search.²⁷ At the state level you can use the South Carolina Judicial Branch’s Case Records Search.

Finally, for District of South Carolina cases in United States Federal Court you can perform a party search directly with the court or through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system.^28,29 However, the PACER service will charge you a fee per document (and page length).

Vital Records (Birth & Death Certificates) in Charleston County SC

Charleston County Vital records, including certificates of birth and death, are handled by South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).³⁰ 

Public availability of Charleston county birth and death records. Death records are publicly available 50 years after someone dies. However, you have to wait until 100 years after someone is born before their birth certificate is publicly available.

This significantly limits the number of birth and death records that are available since South Carolina did not start officially recording births and deaths until 1915.

Currently the only birth records that are publicly available are those from 1915-1918. You can find all available archived birth records with the South Carolina Department of Archives and History.³¹

For death records, the DHEC has a Death Index from 1915 to 1967.³² For more information on public birth or death records contact the South Carolina Department of Archives and History at 803-896-6196. You can also go in person to the below address.

South Carolina Department of Archives and History
8301 Parklane Road
Columbia South Carolina 29223

People that can request a non-public birth or death record include: 

• Parents named on the certificate of birth
• Legal guardians of a minor or adult
• Legal representative

For birth certificates, if the person is deceased, immediate family members or their legal representative may obtain a certified copy.

How To Obtain Birth & Death Records in Charleston County South Carolina

There are 5 ways you can request either a Charleston county certificate of birth or death. If you have additional questions you can contact the DHEC Vital Records Office at 803-898-3630.

1. Online – You can make a request through GoCertificates or VitalChek.³³ Both charge a $17.00 searching fee and $3.00 for each additional certified copy. They also both charge an additional processing fee.
2. Phone – You can make a request through VitalChek by phone. You can call them at 877-284-1008 to make your request. The cost is the same as an online request.
3. In Person – you can get same day service by going in person. You must provide either a completed Vital Records Death Application or Birth Application along with a $12.00 searching fee and $3.00 for any additional copies.^34,35 You can go to the DHEC State Vital records office or any of their regional offices.³⁶
4. Mail – Requests with the appropriate application form should be sent to:
   • DHEC Vital Records
     2600 Bull Street
     Columbia South Carolina 29201
   • Fees are the same as when you go in person but the processing time is approximately 4 weeks.
5. Drop-Off – Requests with the correct application form can be dropped off at the same location as where you can mail them. Processing time is approximately 2 days.

You may need a death certificate because you were appointed as the executor of an estate of someone that recently died. The probate court, which has the search tool we discussed earlier for marriage certificates, also has an estate and will search.³⁷

Here you can search estates and wills by name. If you would like there is also an option to include surrounding counties. Also, you can search by either the particular case name or all parties. Your search will show you an estate’s:

• Case number
• Case name
• Type of case
• Filling date
• Appointment date
• Creditor claim due
• Case status.

You can also get information on additional parties and view the docket. The docket is helpful for telling you when key aspects of the estate administration were completed.

How To View Property Ownership & Records in Charleston County

Charleston County provides various ways to search property records. The primary custodian of property records is the Register of Deeds Office.³⁸ You can call them at 843-958-4800 and can go in person to the below address:

O.T. Wallace County Office Building
101 Meeting Street, Room 200
Charleston, South Carolina 29401

The Register of Deeds provides a search tool to find deeds, mortgages and other related documents.³⁹ Here are the steps to conduct a property search:

1. Select the type of search. You can select all types or you can narrow it down specifically to mortgages or deeds.
2. Select the owner type – you can select an individual, firm or both.
3. Enter search criteria – here you can enter the name and a date range for the record date.
4. Accept legal disclaimer and click “search.”

Once you complete a search you can see the following information:

• Description
• Book number
• Page number
• Name
• Record date

You can click on the “view” button to see the actual recorded deed or mortgage.

The Register of Deeds also provides other search tools such as a property tax record search, address change and homestead exemption search to check public records pertaining to land ownership. You can also perform a Historic Property Record Cards search with the Charleston County Auditor.⁴⁰ Here you can search by name, address, parcel ID and sales date.

Thanks to Federal and State laws, there is a plethora of valuable documents at your fingertips. The primary custodian of arrest records is the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. The Charleston County Circuit Court is the primary custodian of criminal records.

For vital records you can find records with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Whether you want to find your own criminal records or review Charleston county public records for a property you are interested in buying, there is a free way to find them if you follow the steps outlined in this article.