Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 24, 2026 and September 26, 2026.
Clinton, South Carolina, in Laurens County, has about 7,900 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Solicitor files charges, a case in the Laurens County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Clinton public records, Laurens County arrest records, South Carolina arrest records and South Carolina inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Clinton
The FBI lists Clinton with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Clinton Police Department. It reported 506 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Laurens County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 1,228 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Laurens County: the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control at Laurens, Laurens County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the Laurens County Forestry Commission, the Department of Natural Resources in Laurens County and one more (state agency); Presbyterian College (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Laurens County (state police).
How Many Arrests Clinton Reports
The FBI publishes every agency's monthly arrest counts on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Clinton: 506 for 2025, 452 for 2024, 527 for 2023, 552 for 2022, 523 for 2021 and 496 for 2020.
Clinton's 506 arrests in 2025 were up 12 percent from 452 in 2024.
Through July 2026, Clinton reported 354 arrests, against 311 in the same months of 2025.
Across Laurens County, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 2,192 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Clinton Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Clinton and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2021 the jail held about 170 people, down from about 250 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2019, the last year with a capacity figure, was 272 beds, and it ran at 92 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the custody page of the Laurens County Sheriff's Office at laurenscountysheriff.org/inmate-search (page title: INMATE SEARCH | laurenscountysheriff), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
That page is the place to look for someone who was booked recently; a person cited and released at the scene, or held only a few hours by a city department, will not be on it.
A person sentenced to prison serves the sentence in a facility of the South Carolina Department of Corrections, whose inmate locator is at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Clinton
An arrest in Clinton can be traced in two places, depending on where the case stands: the custody page of the Laurens County Sheriff's Office described above, for anyone booked into the county jail; the case index of the Laurens County Circuit Court, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at sccourts.org/courts/courthouse-search/laurens, phone (864) 984-3538).
South Carolina is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25 a search, through the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Clinton
An arrest report belongs to the agency whose officer wrote it, and that agency releases it, not the court or the jail. Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the agency must answer within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old, and it may charge search, retrieval and copying at the agency's actual cost.
- An arrest by the Clinton police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at cityofclintonsc.com/1407/Records-and-Reports (page title: Records and Reports | Clinton, SC), which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 26, 2026.
- An arrest by the Laurens County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Laurens County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sccourts.org/courts/courthouse-search/laurens, phone (864) 984-3538.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at laurenscountysc.gov (page title: Public Records Request | FOIA Request Form).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Laurens County guide covers every agency in the county: Laurens County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Clinton each year?
Clinton reported 506 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Clinton?
Look on the custody page of the Laurens County Sheriff's Office at laurenscountysheriff.org/inmate-search. It covers people booked into the county jail.
Where are people arrested in Clinton booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Laurens County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Clinton?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division: the CATCH service lets anyone run a name-based criminal record search online, for $25. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Clinton?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Clinton police for its own arrests, the Laurens County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act the answer is due within 10 business days, or 20 for records more than two years old; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at laurenscountysc.gov.
Is this the official Clinton website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.