Charleston County, SC Courts and Public Records

Charleston County is part of the Ninth Judicial Circuit, which also includes the counties listed in South Carolina's official circuit map. The Charleston County Clerk of Court keeps court records and serves the Circuit and Family Courts, while South Carolina's trial courts also include Probate, Magistrate, Municipal and Master-in-Equity Courts.

Have the full name, the case number if you know it, and approximate dates ready. Charleston County court records are kept by the Clerk of Court.

Charleston County courts handled an estimated 27,878 new cases in FY 2026 across the case types covered here, and disposed of 12,098 criminal and probate cases. Criminal cases (General Sessions) and probate estate cases come from county reports; civil and family filings are estimated.

The largest category movement was in criminal filings.

Estimated total filings in Charleston County moved up over the last five years; dispositions are estimated at a similar level.

Estimated filings changed +17.3% between FY 2022 and FY 2026, from 23,773 to 27,878. The largest annual change was +9.9% in FY 2024. The latest change of +7.1% was driven mainly by criminal filings.

Civil cases are estimated to be the largest category in Charleston County, at about 39.3% of filings in FY 2026.

Criminal cases grew fastest and family law cases fell fastest.

Charleston County is estimated to account for about 8.33% of the 334,712 cases filed in South Carolina courts in FY 2026.

Compared with the state, Charleston County has a higher share of civil filings and a lower share of criminal filings. Figures marked with ~ are estimates.

These figures are South Carolina statewide totals as reported to the FBI, not counts for Charleston County. Agency reporting may be incomplete, and county crime counts are not available here. Statewide violent and property crimes combined fell 15.0% from 2024 to 2025. In 2025, reporting agencies covered about 96.4% of South Carolina's population, so year-over-year changes can partly reflect which agencies reported.

Rates use the South Carolina 2025 population of 5,570,274. County-level rates are not published, so this section does not compare Charleston County with the state. The property crimes total includes arson, so it is larger than the sum of the property offenses listed above.

Charleston County has 1 Clerk of Court location in Charleston. Check your case paperwork for the courtroom or division before you go.

In Charleston County, South Carolina, cases are heard in magistrate, municipal, circuit, family, or probate courts, depending on the case.

Charleston County cases are heard in South Carolina's trial courts, including Circuit, Family, Probate, Magistrate, Municipal and Master-in-Equity Courts. Confirm which court handles your matter with the Charleston County Clerk of Court at (843) 958-5000, since the Clerk serves the Circuit and Family Courts.

Yes, most Charleston County court records are public, with exceptions set by the South Carolina Judicial Branch court-records policy.

Public records

Most court records are open to the public under the Judicial Branch court-records policy, which is summarized on the Judicial Branch court access page.

Restricted or confidential records

Records that the policy, a rule, or a court order makes confidential are not available to the public. Do not expect sealed records to appear online.

Online access

Case information can be searched in the Public Index. Online results may show case information without every document, so ask the Clerk of Court for documents that are not online.

In-person access

Visit the Charleston County Clerk of Court at 100 Broad St Ste 106, Charleston, SC 29401, or call (843) 958-5000 to confirm where a record is kept.

South Carolina offers an online public index that may show circuit, magistrate, and some municipal court cases from Charleston County.

1. Identify whether your case is criminal, traffic, civil, family, probate, or juvenile.
2. Open the official South Carolina Judicial Branch Public Index.
3. Search by county, court type, party name, or case number.
4. Review the case details, parties, hearing dates, and dispositions.
5. Contact the clerk or court in Charleston County to request documents not available online.

Use South Carolina's official Judicial Branch search tools to find Charleston County cases, then ask the Clerk of Court for documents that are not available online.

1. Identify the case type, such as criminal, traffic, civil, family, or probate.
2. Open the Public Index or the case records search on sccourts.org.
3. Search by party name or case number and note the case number from the results.
4. Review the case details for status and parties.
5. Call the Clerk of Court Office at (843) 958-5000 to request documents that are not online.

This page does not list which case types appear in the Public Index, so confirm coverage for your case with the Clerk of Court.

The Judicial Branch offers online payments for court fines and fees, and the Charleston County Clerk of Court can confirm other payment options for a specific case.

1. Online: Pay court fines and fees at sc.gov/court-payments.
2. Traffic tickets: Look up your ticket with the Traffic Ticket Search before you pay.
3. Clerk of Court: Call (843) 958-5000 to ask about payment options for your case.

Parking tickets are paid through the agency that issued the ticket, so confirm payment details with that agency.