Georgetown County Arrest Records

Arrests are made in Georgetown when people break the law or disobey court orders. Law enforcement officers, including officers from the county sheriff's office and local police departments, are legally authorized (South Carolina Code Title 17) to apprehend individuals found committing a crime. When an officer does not witness a person committing a crime but has evidence linking them to the crime, the officer is required to obtain an arrest warrant from the court to arrest them.

Per state laws, an agency is required to file an arrestee's personal information along with arrest details and a description of the crime during intake at their office or holding facility. This process is referred to as "booking" and ultimately leads to the creation of arrest records.

Arrested persons in the county are held at the Georgetown County Detention Center. Arrests often result in court appearances and related records are typically transferred across multiple offices, including state and federal law enforcement agencies. As such, one may expect to find arrest details and criminal justice information in Georgetown County court records.

Are Arrest Records Public in Georgetown County?

Yes. Georgetown arrest records are subject to the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In accordance with the provisions of FOIA, custodians of arrest records are mandated to make them available upon request for inspection and copying. Nonetheless, this act also prohibits public access to certain arrest records to protect sensitive information whose disclosure has the potential to threaten the security of a person or entity.

Access to non-public records is limited to record subjects, their legal representatives, and law enforcement agencies who may need such records for documentation purposes or to aid ongoing investigations. The following are examples of records restricted from public view:

• Information about juveniles
• Personal data whose disclosure may constitute an unreasonable invasion of the record subject's privacy
• Arrest information with the potential to compromise a court's judgment, thus sabotaging a person's fair trial rights
• Identifying information about confidential sources or witnesses
• Information about investigative techniques and procedures used by law enforcement.

What Do Public Arrest Records Contain?

Public copies of Georgetown County arrest records typically contain the following:

• The full name of the suspect
• Physical description of the suspect
• Description of offense
• Mugshot
• Booking time, date, and number
• Name of arresting officer and agency
• Bail/bond amount if applicable.

Georgetown County Arrest Statistics

According to a publication by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), 2,409 arrests were recorded in Georgetown County in 2022, with an arrest rate of 372.21. Compared to the 2,609 arrests made in 2021, there was a 7.7% drop. Notable crimes for which arrests were made in 2022 include the following: aggravated assault (152), burglary (29), arson (1), larceny (178), simple assault (333), driving under the influence (289), robbery (7), motor vehicle theft (14), murder and nonnegligent manslaughter (5), and weapon law violations (47).

Drug law violations were the most prevalent, with a total of 367 arrests. There were no arrests for bribery, extortion/blackmail, gambling offenses, human trafficking, negligent manslaughter, or prostitution offenses.

Find Georgetown County Arrest Records

The Georgetown County Sheriff's Office is the primary custodian of the county's arrest records. Interested parties may request records by completing an FOIA request form and submitting it to this office during business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays. The applicable fees for obtained documents are $0.35 per page and $5.00 per CD or DVD disk (audio, video, photos, etc.). Requests should be addressed to:

FOIA Request
Georgetown County Sheriff's Office
P.O. Box 1292
Georgetown, SC 29442
Phone: (843) 546-5102

For arrestees in the South Carolina Department of Corrections (SCDC) custody, visit the incarcerated inmate search tool. The SCDC maintains this statewide online database for record searches. Search parameters for this website are SCDC number, an inmate's first name, last name, and SID. The SID is an inmate's unique identifier assigned by SLED, formally known as state identification.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons provides the inmate locator tool that enables people to find information about federal inmates. To use this website, an inquirer will need the full name of the inmate or an identifier number, such as the BOP Register Number, DCDC Number, or INS Number. In addition to the record subject's name, additional information like age, sex, gender, and race.

Free Arrest Record Search in Georgetown County

To find arrest records about individuals arrested by the county sheriff's office and other police departments in the county, visit the booking and release portal on the sheriff's website. Record seekers can search this database using an arrestee's name, release date, or booking date. The information available on this website includes the suspect's name, date of birth, mugshot, booking date and time, release date (if the person has been released from custody), arresting agency, offense type and description, and bond amount.

Third-party websites are a convenient and free alternative. Record seekers usually search these websites using an inmate's name. In contrast to their official counterparts, these websites offer additional convenience by allowing people to find records on arrests made in other counties. Sometimes, a third-party database may contain records for multiple states. This feature is particularly useful for general research and scenarios where a researcher does not know the specific agency that made an arrest.

How Long Do Arrests Stay on Your Record?

Indefinitely. Arrests remain on a person's record forever. However, record subjects who meet certain eligibility criteria can appeal to have their records destroyed. Arrest records for felony and traffic convictions remain indefinitely, as state laws exempt them from expungement.

Expunge Georgetown County Arrest Records

When a record is expunged, they are typically restricted from public access, and copies of such records present in public databases are removed. In South Carolina, an expungement is also called an Order for Destruction of Arrest Records. Per the South Carolina Code of Laws Title 17, Chapter 1, expunged arrest records are retained on classified law enforcement databases and are only accessible to their officers and prosecutors for three years and 120 days. Records are retained to aid ongoing or future investigations.

Arrests may be expunged under certain circumstances or if specific conditions are met. Note that certain traffic and felony convictions cannot be expunged. Under state laws, the following are criteria that determine records' eligibility for expunction:

• The arrestee was a juvenile at the time the arrest took place
• It was a non-violent first-time offense
• The arrestee participated in a pretrial intervention program
• The arrest was as a result of mistaken identity
• The charges against the arrestee were dismissed or dropped
• The associated criminal trial resulted in a non-guilty plea.

For further information about expungement eligibility and procedures, see the Expungement Application Packet. To begin the expungement procedure,

• Contact the Georgetown County Solicitor's Office for information about the expungement procedures or contact an attorney.
• Complete the Georgetown County Application for an Expungement.
• Obtain a copy of certified dispositions for the charge(s) whose records are to be expunged, along with additional documents requested.
• Pay the required expungement fee. Before payment of any fees, confirm that the involved records qualify for expungement, as fees are nonrefundable.
• Submit the completed expungement application, additional requested documents, and evidence of fee payment to the Solicitor's Office. Submission options include email (Conner.Marsha@horrycountysc.gov) and in-person at

401 Cleland Street
Georgetown, SC 29440.

Mailing Address

P.O. Box 1688
Georgetown, SC 29442
Phone: (843) 545-3169
Fax: (843) 545-3268

After submitting the application, the Solicitor's Office will send an email containing instructions on how to proceed or notification that the expungement request was denied. If successful, the entire expungement process typically takes up to six months.

Georgetown County Arrest Warrants

Georgetown County arrest warrants are official documents issued by a court authorizing law enforcement to arrest persons suspected of committing a crime. Warrants can also be issued for the arrest of individuals who failed to honor a court's summons, violated probation terms, or disobeyed a court order, in which case they are referred to as bench warrants. Arrest warrants are only issued on the basis of probable cause. For the establishment of probable cause, law enforcement officers must provide sufficient evidence that links a suspect to a crime that has been committed.

An arrest warrant must set forth the following:

• The subject's full name (or other description to aid their identification)
• Description of the crime(s)
• Name and signature of the issuing authority
• Violated statutes justifying the arrest
• The date and time of issuance.

The Warrants Unit of the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office is responsible for managing and serving arrest warrants issued and served in the county. For further information, contact this office at (843) 546-5102.

Do Georgetown County Arrest Warrants Expire?

No arrest warrants do not expire in Georgetown County. Once issued, warrants stay active until the individual turns themselves in, appears in court, or gets arrested. Notwithstanding, the execution of an arrest warrant may be delayed if the warrant's subject relocates from the jurisdiction within which the warrant may be executed. In this case, the issuing county will have to cooperate with law enforcement in the suspect's known authority to have them arrested or wait for their return before making the arrest. Otherwise, the warrant can only go away if the issuing authority recalls or quashes it.