South Carolina Inmate Search

South Carolina houses federal, state, and county prisons. The Palmetto State does contain a few private prisons but has not contracted a new location for decades. The latest numbers report only 78 people in these private institutions.

Four Federal Correctional Institutions (FCI) in South Carolina are spread throughout the state. These prisons are all for male offenders and offer medium-security measures.

Additionally, there are 21 state prisons managed by the South Carolina Department of Corrections (DOC). Only one of these prisons, the Leath Correctional Institution, is designed to hold female inmates.

At the state level, South Carolina has 45 county jails in its 46 counties, which hold short-term inmates or those awaiting trial.

The US has an incarceration rate of 355 people per 100,000. South Carolina is slightly below that average at 302 per 100,000 residents. County and State prison populations make up the vast majority of incarcerations.

South Carolina Inmate SearchPrison in South Carolina
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According to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, the state's correctional system includes 21 state prisons (including 1 women-only facility), 45 county jails, and 4 federal prisons. The system has an incarceration rate of 302 per 100,000 residents. The state also has 78 inmates in private prisons.

South Carolina Department Corrections Inmate Search

The state's Department of Corrections (DOC) manages South Carolina state prisons, while federal prisons fall under the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Both are responsible for maintaining prison facilities, creating rehabilitation programs, and monitoring parolees.

Accomplishing these tasks requires these organizations to record and update inmate information continually. Details about inmate arrivals, releases, transfers, and names help smooth out administrative procedures and provide public transparency.

South Carolina offers an inmate search feature on its website. It is equipped with standard public information and limited photographs of incarcerated inmates. The feature is updated at midnight each day and is a toll-free service.

Searches can be run using the inmate's SCDC ID, State Identification, or full name. An advanced option also accepts the inmate's projected release dates and type of offense as search parameters.

User

Find Inmate by Name

Most people will search for inmates by name. This information is more accessible from news stories or other public record sources.

Searches return every database entry that fully or partially matches the inputted text. For example, searching the last name "Park" will return entries for "Parker" and "Parkes," resulting in a longer list of results.

On the bright side, there is a "phonetic match" toggle to assist people who do not know how to spell the inmate's name.

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Find Inmate by Number

The SCDC ID is a PIN assigned to every individual processed through the Department of Corrections. This ID is the best method for locating an individual in the inmate database alongside the state ID.

What Information is Contained in a South Carolina Inmate Record?

South Carolina inmate records record personal information such as an inmate's full name, sex, race, height, weight, and age. They also include a mugshot, details about the convicting arrest, and a disciplinary history while incarcerated.

This information is beneficial to prison administrations and criminal justice research. It assists administrators in reviewing inmates' behavior for parole considerations and gives the public a better understanding of why individuals are in prison.

Inmate records also supply a projected release date and/or a projected parole eligibility date. These terms refer to when the inmate has completed their sentence or their behavior warrants reentry into society under the DOC's supervision.

If the release date shows a past day, the inmate has been commuted and left the prison. Other release dates will simply say "Unknown," meaning that the inmate is undergoing a process with no set end date, such as a criminal trial.

South Carolina Inmate Records by Counties

Federal and state prisons use significant resources when transferring and incarcerating inmates. However, some offenses aren't worth these resources. County jails hold people who do not meet the requirements for higher-tier prisons.

The South Carolina DOC does not record county jail inmates; it is up to the arresting county sheriff's office to create and maintain incarceration records. Most offices have created websites with search functions similar to the state-level system.

Interested parties can search county jail inmates by their names, arrival dates, release dates, and even the arresting officer's ID.

Are Incarceration Records Public Information in South Carolina?

South Carolina permits public access to incarceration records as part of the state's Freedom of Information Act. These laws hold that any state department, including the Department of Corrections, must make available any generated documents.

Notably, the state's search feature does not show information for offenders currently under parole or other supervisory methods. It also does not provide information on juvenile offenders or current fugitives.

While the DOC's online inmate search system is free of charge, there is a charge for record production. The DOC charges $18.95 an hour for searching for and retrieving records. It also costs an additional $0.10 per page produced ($0.25 for color pages).

Federal Prisons in South Carolina

Federal prisons are managed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). This means that incarceration records for federal prisons must be accessed through the BOP.

These prisons are designed for residents of South Carolina who've broken federal law and been processed by the federal court system. Offenses will range from financial fraud to large-scale drug distribution.

South Carolina contains four federal correctional institutions (FCI). Each of these complexes is considered medium security, which means they are prepared to handle inmates who pose some risk but are mostly compliant.

The typical inmate has a moderate sentence length and is in for non-violent crimes.

LocationSecurity LevelPopulation
WilliamsburgMedium1,296
EdgefieldMedium1,867
BennettsvilleMedium1,593
EstillMedium43

Frequently Asked Questions about Inmate Records

Interested parties should send a written or electronic request to the South Carolina Department of Corrections describing the desired information and providing the requestor's name, address, and phone number.

It's recommended that the inmate's SCDC ID or State ID be included in the request. These can be found on the document produced by the DOC's inmate search system.

Below is the contact information for their offices:

FOIA Coordinator
Office of General Counsel
South Carolina Department of Corrections
Post Office Box 21787
Columbia, SC 29221-1787
FOIA@doc.sc.gov

Anyone can find information on South Carolina inmates on the DOC's website. Searches are performed with the inmate's name, SCDC ID, State ID, or projected release date.

Records for county jail incarcerations are only available through the arresting sheriff's office. Calling is an option, but many offices provide search tools on their website.

The South Carolina DOC's search tool does not display inmate information for those released or on probation. This means that older inmate records are only available via a DOC records request.

Prison deaths are announced by on-site medical professionals and reported to law enforcement. While you cannot request inmate death records from the prison system, they are available through South Carolina's Vital Records Department .

The South Carolina inmate search tool updates each day at midnight. However, these updates only occur after a process is complete, and ongoing transfers or releases may not reflect the same day.

The South Carolina DOC uses ViaPath to transfer money to inmates. Interested parties may send money through the website, mobile app, phone, mail, or walk-in location.