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.
Anderson County, South Carolina, has about 217,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and arrests there are reported to the FBI by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, six city agencies and nine 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 Anderson 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: Anderson County public records, South Carolina arrest records, South Carolina inmate search and South Carolina criminal records.
Who Makes Arrests in Anderson County
The Anderson County Sheriff's Office is the county agency that reports arrests to the FBI for Anderson County. It reported 3,425 arrests for 2025.
The FBI lists six cities in Anderson County with a reporting agency of their own, with the Census population and what each reported:
- Anderson, 30,937 residents: 1,154 arrests reported for 2025.
- Williamston, 4,285 residents: 139 arrests reported for 2025.
- Honea Path, 3,885 residents: 238 arrests reported for 2025.
- Pendleton, 3,697 residents: 70 arrests reported for 2025.
- Iva, 1,191 residents: 38 arrests reported for 2025.
- West Pelzer, 1,027 residents: 30 arrests reported for 2025.
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 Easley Police Department and the Clemson Police Department are each listed by the FBI across several counties including Anderson County, so their arrests are not broken out for Anderson County here.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Anderson County: the Bureau of Protective Services, the Anderson County State Transport Police, the Department of Health and Environmental Control Drug Control in Anderson County, Anderson County South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and two more (state agency); Anderson University and Tri-County Technical College (campus police); the Highway Patrol in Anderson County (state police).
How Many Arrests Each Agency Reports in Anderson 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.
- Anderson County Sheriff's Office: 3,425 for 2025, 3,175 for 2024, 2,926 for 2023, 2,574 for 2022, 2,541 for 2021 and 3,406 for 2020.
- Anderson: 1,154 for 2025, 1,354 for 2024, 1,490 for 2023 and 1,758 for 2021; 2022 is missing months.
- Honea Path: 238 for 2025, 242 for 2024, 234 for 2020 and 159 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2023 are missing months.
- Williamston: 139 for 2025, 99 for 2024, 117 for 2023, 123 for 2022, 153 for 2021 and 95 for 2020.
- Pendleton: 70 for 2025, 46 for 2024, 33 for 2023, 25 for 2022 and 32 for 2021.
- Iva: 38 for 2025, 54 for 2024, 68 for 2023, 41 for 2022, 56 for 2021 and 46 for 2020.
- West Pelzer: 30 for 2025, 53 for 2021 and 103 for 2020; 2022, 2023 and 2024 are missing months.
Together, the seven agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 5,094 arrests that year. The six of them with both 2025 and 2024 complete reported 5,064 in 2025 against 4,970 in 2024, up 1.9 percent.
Through July 2026, the six agencies with every month so far on file reported 2,463 arrests, against 2,449 in the same months of 2025.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Anderson County Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Anderson County 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 2023 the jail held about 410 people, down from about 500 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023 was 245 beds, and it ran at 169 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 Anderson County Sheriff's Office at andersonsheriff.org/copy-of-detention-bureau (page title: DETENTION CENTER | Anderson County Sheriff's Office | South Carolina), phone (864) 260-4201, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 24, 2026.
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 Anderson County
For Anderson County the place to look is the case index of the Anderson 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/anderson, phone (864) 260-4053).
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 Anderson 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 Anderson County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit, reached through the office at (864) 260-4201.
- An arrest in Anderson, Williamston, Honea Path, Pendleton, Iva or West Pelzer: the records unit of the agency that reports for that city.
- An arrest by the Bureau of Protective Services, Anderson University or Tri-County Technical College: the records office of the agency involved.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Anderson County Circuit Court, through the court records page at sccourts.org, phone (864) 260-4053.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at andersonsheriff.org/foia (page title: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT | Anderson County Sheriff's Office | South Carolina).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
Cities in Anderson County: Who Reports the Arrests
The FBI lists a separate arrest reporting agency for six of the nine cities in Anderson County: Anderson, Williamston, Honea Path, Pendleton, Iva and West Pelzer. Belton, Pelzer and Starr 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 Anderson County Circuit Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Anderson County each year?
The Anderson County Sheriff's Office reported 3,425 arrests to the FBI for 2025, and the seven agencies with every month of 2025 on file reported 5,094 between them.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Anderson County?
Ask the Anderson County Sheriff's Office at (864) 260-4201; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at andersonsheriff.org/copy-of-detention-bureau.
Where are people arrested in Anderson County booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Anderson County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Anderson 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 Anderson County?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Anderson 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 andersonsheriff.org/foia.
Is this the official Anderson 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.