Kershaw County Criminal Records and Inmate Search
Kershaw County criminal records are maintained by the Clerk of Court and the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office within the 5th Judicial Circuit. Sheriff Lee Boan leads an office that generates arrest records and maintains an online inmate search portal, providing public access to booking information for individuals in custody. The Clerk of Court preserves General Sessions criminal case records, which are accessible through the South Carolina Public Index at no charge. A separate Detention Center operates independently of the Sheriff's Office in Kershaw County, which creates a distinct structure for understanding where different types of custody records originate.
Kershaw County Quick Facts
Kershaw County Clerk of Court: Criminal Records Custodian
Ginger Farmer serves as the Kershaw County Clerk of Court. The mailing address for the office is PO Box 1557, Camden SC 29021-8557. The direct email for the Clerk is ginger.farmer@kershaw.sc.gov. The main phone number is (803) 425-7223 and fax is (803) 425-1505. The Clerk's office maintains all General Sessions criminal court records for Kershaw County. General Sessions handles felony criminal charges, and the records maintained by the Clerk document every stage of each case, from initial filing through disposition and any appeals.
Court rosters for upcoming hearings are available at the South Carolina Public Index website. Online access to Kershaw County criminal records is provided through the Kershaw County Public Index, which is Circuit 5, County 28. The Public Index is free to use and allows searches by party name, case number, or filing date. Results include case summaries, hearing schedules, and basic filing information for both active and disposed cases in Kershaw County courts.
Under S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-10 et seq., General Sessions criminal records are public documents accessible to any member of the public. The Clerk's office complies with the Freedom of Information Act and must respond to written records requests within ten business days under S.C. Code Ann. § 30-4-30. Requesters who visit in person during office hours can access case files directly with staff assistance. Providing the subject's full name and approximate case dates helps the office locate specific records more efficiently.
Kershaw County Sheriff's Office and Arrest Records
Sheriff Lee Boan leads the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office, with the main office located at 821 Ridgeway Road, Lugoff SC 29078. A satellite office is at 521 DeKalb Street, Camden SC 29020. The main phone number is (803) 425-1512 and the fax is (803) 424-4031. The Sheriff's website is at kershawsheriff.com. The Sheriff's Office is responsible for law enforcement across unincorporated Kershaw County and generates arrest records that feed into the General Sessions criminal case system.
The Sheriff's Office maintains an online inmate search portal at kershaw-so-sc.zuercherportal.com. A last name is the minimum information required for an online inmate search. Phone inquiries about inmates can be made during business hours. In-person inquiries require a government-issued photo identification. Inmate records are public under South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act, and the Sheriff's Office makes them available through these channels in compliance with statutory requirements.
The following image is sourced from the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office website.
The Kershaw County Sheriff's Office works alongside the South Carolina Judicial Department to maintain and provide access to arrest records and criminal case information for the county.
FOIA requests submitted to the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office are subject to specific fee schedules. The rate is $15.00 per hour for search, retrieval, and redaction. An incident report costs $5.00. A CD or DVD of records is $10.00, and a statement costs $5.00. These fees are established under the Sheriff's FOIA policy and apply to records requests that require staff time to process. Requesters should be prepared for these costs when submitting formal records requests to the Sheriff's Office.
Kershaw County Detention Center: Independent Custody Records
The Kershaw County Detention Center is located at 101 Bramblewood Plantation Road, Camden SC 29020. The Detention Center phone is (803) 425-1516, option 9, and it is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. A key distinction in Kershaw County is that the Detention Center is not under the jurisdiction of the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office. This means that custody records and booking information at the Detention Center are maintained by a separate administrative authority from the Sheriff's Office arrest records.
Individuals seeking information about a person in custody at the Kershaw County Detention Center should contact the Detention Center directly rather than the Sheriff's Office. This distinction is important for researchers who may otherwise assume that all Kershaw County custody records are held by the Sheriff's Office. The Detention Center's records are public under South Carolina FOIA, and the same disclosure requirements and exemptions apply as with other county agencies.
The separation of the Detention Center from Sheriff's Office jurisdiction does not affect the status of criminal court records. General Sessions case records are maintained by the Clerk of Court regardless of which facility holds the defendant pending trial. Researchers seeking court records should consult the Public Index and the Clerk's office, while those seeking current custody status should contact the appropriate detention facility.
SLED CATCH and Kershaw County Criminal History Search
The SLED CATCH portal at catch.sled.sc.gov offers a statewide criminal history search that includes records originating from Kershaw County. CATCH aggregates data reported by all South Carolina law enforcement agencies, including the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office and local police departments. A name-based CATCH search returns arrests, charges, and dispositions across the entire state for the named individual. The fee is $25.00 plus a $1.00 online processing fee under S.C. Code Ann. § 23-3-115. Reporting to SLED is mandatory for all law enforcement agencies under S.C. Code Ann. § 23-3-120.
The free South Carolina Sex Offender Registry maintained by SLED is searchable by name, county, or ZIP code. The SCDC inmate search covers individuals in South Carolina state correctional facilities. The SLED main website provides a complete directory of available records services. Title 23 of the South Carolina Code governing law enforcement and SLED is available at scstatehouse.gov/code/t23c003.php.
Expungement and Records Confidentiality in Kershaw County
South Carolina's expungement statute at S.C. Code Ann. § 17-22-910 provides a process for eligible individuals to have Kershaw County criminal records removed from public access. A successful expungement directs the Clerk of Court, the Sheriff's Office, SLED, and all other relevant agencies to destroy or seal the designated records. Following expungement, the record no longer appears in the Kershaw County Public Index or in SLED CATCH results for that individual.
Eligibility for expungement turns on the charge type, the case outcome, and the time elapsed since the case ended. First-time misdemeanor dismissals and acquittals are frequently eligible. Conditional discharge outcomes may qualify once all conditions have been met. Certain first-time nonviolent felony convictions may be expungeable after the full sentence is completed and the required waiting period has passed. The process begins at the Clerk of Court, proceeds through the 5th Circuit Solicitor's Office, and concludes with a judicial ruling.
When a Kershaw County criminal case results in dismissal or acquittal, records may be subject to destruction under S.C. Code Ann. § 17-1-40. Juvenile records are confidential under S.C. Code Ann. § 63-19-2010. The FOIA statute governing public records access is at scstatehouse.gov/code/t30c004.php. The expungement statute is at scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c022.php. The SC Courts case records search portal provides additional statewide access to court data including Kershaw County records.
Nearby Counties
Looking for criminal records in neighboring counties? The following counties border or are near Kershaw County.