Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones each agency reported to the FBI, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026. 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 on September 24, 2026.
Abbeville County, South Carolina, has about 25,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office, three city agencies and seven campus, state or other agencies. An arrest 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 Abbeville County Circuit Court. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts each agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies, cities and common questions.
Related guides: Abbeville County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Abbeville County
The Abbeville County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Abbeville County. It reported 314 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists three cities in Abbeville County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Abbeville, 4,870 residents: 196 arrests reported for 2025.
- Calhoun Falls, 1,747 residents: 49 arrests reported for 2023.
- Due West, 1,292 residents: 6 arrests reported for 2024.
A city on that list is reported separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
The Honea Path Police Department is listed by the FBI across two counties including Abbeville County, so its arrests are not broken out for Abbeville County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Abbeville County: the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Abbeville County, the Department of Natural Resources in Abbeville County, the Abbeville County Forestry Commission, Abbeville County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and one more (state agency); Erskine College (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Abbeville County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Abbeville County
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.
- Abbeville County Sheriff's Office: 314 for 2025, 349 for 2024, 539 for 2022 and 459 for 2021; 2023 is missing months.
- Abbeville: 196 for 2025, 199 for 2024, 189 for 2023, 174 for 2022, 177 for 2021 and 185 for 2020.
- Due West: 6 for 2024, 12 for 2023, 11 for 2022, 18 for 2021, 17 for 2020 and 17 for 2019.
- Calhoun Falls: 49 for 2023, 33 for 2022, 13 for 2021, 25 for 2020 and 30 for 2019.
Together, the three agencies with all twelve months of 2024 on file reported 554 arrests that year. The two of them with both 2024 and 2023 complete reported 205 in 2024 against 201 in 2023, up 2 percent.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Abbeville County Are Held
A person kept in custody after an arrest in Abbeville County is held at the county jail, whichever agency made the arrest, apart from the short stay some city departments' own holding cells allow; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked at all. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and the court file takes over from there.
On an average day in 2019 the jail held about 35 people. Its rated capacity in 2019 was 124 beds, and it ran at 28 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office at abbevillecountysc.com/sheriff (page title: Sheriff | Abbeville County, South Carolina), phone (864) 446-6000, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the South Carolina Department of Corrections lists its inmates at doc.sc.gov/inmate-search-disclaimer.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Abbeville County
For Abbeville County the place to look is the case index of the Abbeville 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/abbeville, phone (864) 366-5312).
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 Abbeville County
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. 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 Abbeville County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (864) 446-6000.
- An arrest in Abbeville, Calhoun Falls or Due West: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Abbeville County, Erskine College or the Department of Natural Resources in Abbeville County: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Abbeville County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sccourts.org, phone (864) 366-5312.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at abbevillecountysc.com (page title: Public Records Request | Abbeville County, South Carolina).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Abbeville County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for three of the five cities in Abbeville County: Abbeville, Calhoun Falls and Due West. Donalds and Lowndesville have no separate reporting agency in the FBI's list.
Wherever in the county the arrest happens, a person kept in custody goes to the county jail and the case goes to the Abbeville County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Abbeville County each year?
The Abbeville County Sheriff's Office reported 314 arrests to the FBI for 2025. For 2024, the latest year most of the agencies in Abbeville County sent in full, the three with every month on file reported 554 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Abbeville County?
Ask the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office at (864) 446-6000; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at abbevillecountysc.com/sheriff.
Where are people arrested in Abbeville County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Abbeville County?
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 Abbeville County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Abbeville County Sheriff's Office for its own arrests, or the agency that reports for the city where it happened. 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 abbevillecountysc.com.
Is this the official Abbeville County website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.